Diagram showing how the gates work, though the barrier actually rises further than this to allow water to 'underspill' under the barrier in a controlled fashion

The concept of the rotating gates was devised by (Reginald) Charles Draper. In 1969, from his parents' house in Pellatt Grove, Wood Green, London, he constructed a working model. The novel rotating cylinders were based on the design of the taps on his gas cooker. The barrier was designed by Rendel, Palmer and Tritton for the Greater London Council and tested at the Hydraulics Research Station, Wallingford. The site at New Charlton was chosen because of the relative straightness of the banks, and because the underlying river chalk was strong enough to support the barrier. Work began at the barrier site in 1974 and construction, which had been undertaken by a Costain/Hollandsche Beton Maatschappij/Tarmac Construction consortium,[3] was largely complete by 1982. The gates of the barrier were made by Cleveland Bridge UK Ltd[4] at Dent's Wharf on the River Tees.[5]

In addition to the barrier, the flood defences for 11 miles down river were raised and strengthened. The barrier was officially opened on 8 May 1984 by Queen Elizabeth II. Total construction cost was around £534 million (£1.6 billion at 2016 prices) with an additional £100 million for river defences.

Built across a 520-metre (570 yd) wide stretch of the river, the barrier divides the river into four 61-metre (200 ft) and two, approximately 30 metre (100 ft) navigable spans. There are also four smaller non-navigable channels between nine concrete piers and two abutments. The flood gates across the openings are circular segments in cross section, and they operate by rotating, raised to allow "underspill" to allow operators to control upstream levels and a complete 180 degree rotation for maintenance. All the gates are hollow and made of steel up to 40 millimetres (1.6 in) thick. The gates are filled with water when submerged and empty as they emerge from the river. The four large central gates are 20.1 metres (66 ft) high and weigh 3,700 tonnes.[6] Four radial gates by the riverbanks, also about 30 metres (100 ft) wide, can be lowered. These gate openings, unlike the main six, are non-navigable.

A Thames Barrier flood defence closure is triggered when a combination of high tides forecast in the North Sea and high river flows at the tidal limit at Teddington weir indicate that water levels would exceed 4.87 metres (16.0 ft) in central London. Though Teddington marks the Normal Tidal Limit, in periods of very high fluvial flow the tidal influence can be seen as far upstream as East Molesey on the Thames.[7]

The barrier from Silvertown on the north bank of the river during normal operation looking across to New Charlton.

During the barrier's entire history up to October 2017, there have been 179 flood defence closures. The barrier was closed twice on 9 November 2007 after a storm surge in the North Sea which was compared to the one in 1953.[9] The main danger of flooding from the surge was on the coast above the Thames Barrier, where evacuations took place, but the winds abated a little and, at the Thames Barrier, the 9 November 2007 storm surge did not completely coincide with high tide.[10]

On 20 August 1989, hours after the Marchioness disaster, the barrier was closed against a spring tide for 16 hours "to assist the diving and salvage operations".[11]

The barrier has survived 15 boat collisions without serious damage.[12]

On 27 October 1997, the barrier was damaged when the dredger MV Sand Kite, operating in thick fog, hit one of the Thames Barrier's piers. As the ship started to sink she dumped her 3,300 tonne load of aggregate, finally sinking by the bow on top of one of the barrier's gates where she lay for several days. Initially the gate could not be closed as it was covered in a thick layer of gravel. A longer term problem was the premature loss of paint on the flat side of the gate caused by abrasion. The vessel was refloated in mid-November 1997.[13]

The annual full test closure in 2012 was scheduled for 3 June to coincide with the Thames pageant celebrating Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee. Flood risk manager Andy Batchelor said the pageant gave the Environment Agency "a unique opportunity to test its design for a longer period than we would normally be able to", and that the more stable tidal conditions in central London that resulted would help the vessels taking part.[14]

The barrier was originally designed to protect London against a very high flood level (with an estimated return period of one hundred years) up to the year 2030, after which the protection would decrease, while remaining within acceptable limits.[15] At the time of its construction, the barrier was expected to be used 2–3 times per year. It is now being used 6–7 times per year.[16]

This defence level included long-term changes in sea and land levels as understood at that time (c. 1970). Despite global warming and a consequently greater predicted rate of sea level rise, recent analysis extended the working life of the barrier until around 2060–2070. From 1982 until 19 March 2007, the barrier was raised one hundred times to prevent flooding. It is also raised monthly for testing,[17] with a full test closure over high tide once a year.[14]

Released in 2005, a study by four academics contained a proposal to supersede the Thames Barrier with a more ambitious 16 km (10 mi) long barrier across the Thames Estuary from Sheerness in Kent to Southend in Essex.[18]

In January 2013, in a letter to The Times, a former member of the Thames Barrier Project Management Team, Dr Richard Bloore, stated that the flood barrier was not designed with increased storminess and sea level rises in mind, and called for a new barrier to be looked into immediately.[20][21] The Environment Agency responded that it does not plan to replace the Thames Barrier before 2070,[22] as the barrier was designed with an allowance for sea level rise of 8 mm per year until 2030, which has not been realised in the intervening years.[23] The Thames Barrier is around halfway through its designed lifespan. It was completed in 1982 and was designed to protect London from flooding until 2030 and beyond. The standard of protection it provides will gradually decline over time after 2030, from a 1 in 1000 year event. The Environment Agency are examining the Thames Barrier for its potential design life under climate change, with early indications being that subject to appropriate modification, the Thames Barrier will be capable of providing continued protection to London against rising sea levels until at least 2070.[12][23]

In series 5 episode 7 (1992) of firefighting drama London’s Burning, Blue Watch are called to the Thames Barrier to rescue a maintenance worker.

In the tenth episode of Series 5 of Spooks, broadcast in mid-late-2006 an environmental group threatens to blow up the Thames Barrier.

The Thames Barrier appears in the 2006 Doctor Who Christmas special, "The Runaway Bride". The Doctor and his companion Donna Noble emerge from the barrier after defeating the Empress of the Racnoss and her children by flooding her secret underground lair, only to find out that they have accidentally drained the Thames.

^Predicting and Managing the Effects of Climate Change on World Heritage, A joint report from the World Heritage Centre, its Advisory Bodies, and a broad group of experts to the 30th session of the World Heritage Committee (Vilnius, 2006) UNESCO, p. 29

1.
London
–
London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area

2.
Costain Group
–
Costain Group plc is a British construction and civil engineering company headquartered in Maidenhead. It was part of the original Channel Tunnel consortium and is involved in Private Finance Initiative projects, the business was founded in 1865 when Richard Costain and his future brother-in-law, Richard Kneen, left the Isle of Man and moved to Liverpool as jobbing builders. The partnership lasted until 1888 when Richard Kneen left and Richard Costains three sons joined him, by the time of the First War, Costain had expanded through Lancashire and into south Wales where it built houses for munitions workers. After the First World War, Costain began to develop housing estates in Liverpool on its own account, with housing sites in Liverpool in short supply, Richard Costain sent his son William down to London to find new sites. He purchased the Walton Heath Land Company and in 1923 the separate business of Richard Costain & Sons was formed, several executive estates in the Croydon area were developed in the mid-1920s. In 1929 William died, the two brothers remained in Liverpool and William’s son, Richard Rylands Costain, was sent to run the London Company. Under him, Richard Costain & Sons expanded its housing building large estates all around London, perhaps the best-known development of all was Dolphin Square completed in 1937. In 1933 the London-based Richard Costain was floated on the London Stock Exchange, by then, Costain had completed over 4,000 houses in the London area, some at prices up to £4,000. Costain continued to expand its private housebuilding and it was described as one of the largest speculative housebuilders, following the flotation, Costain moved into civil engineering and worked first on the Trans-Iranian Railway and then at Abadan, Iran for BP. The Second War saw Costain carrying out extensive military work including airfields and ordnance factories, some small estate development was undertaken but it was not until the acquisition of the Rostance Group of Nottingham in 1962 that private housebuilding resumed on any scale. Helped also by the acquisition of the Blackpool firm of R Fielding in 1969, the substantially increased revenues that accrued to the oil-producing states led to a construction boom in the middle east in the 1970s. Costain was a beneficiary, particularly in the Emirates. In the face of such overseas largesse, domestic housing activity declined, however, over-expansion in the late 1980s led to high gearing just as international markets were turning down, problems exacerbated by a disaster in Costain’s American coal mine. Substantial losses were incurred in the early 1990s and asset sales followed leaving Costain as a predominantly construction-oriented business, at a dramatic low-point in 1995, the demise of Costain was predicted - incorrectly - by broadsheets in the UK. It was not expected to survive as a company by the end of the century. Costains activities are organised into two operating divisions, Natural Resources, Infrastructure, Costain is also involved in the redevelopment of Bond Street Station due for completion in 2017. Costain was revealed as a subscriber to the UKs Consulting Association, exposed in 2009 for operating an illegal construction industry blacklist

3.
Tarmac Limited
–
Tarmac is a British building materials company headquartered in Solihull, Birmingham. The company was formed as Lafarge Tarmac in March 2013 by the merger of Anglo Americans Tarmac UK, in July 2014, Anglo American agreed to sell its stake to Lafarge, to assist Lafarge in its merger with Holcim and allay competition concerns. Prior to 1999 Tarmac Plc was an aggregates to construction company dating from 1903 and it was demerged in 1999 with the Construction and Professional services arms forming Carillion plc. The aggregates and building side of the business retained the Tarmac name and was bought by Anglo American shortly afterwards. In February 2015, Lafarge announced that the business would be sold to CRH plc, Anglo American completed the sale in July 2015, and the acquisition by CRH completed the following month. Following the purchase, Lafarge Tarmac was rebranded as Tarmac, in February 2011 Anglo American and Lafarge announced their intention to merge their British construction materials businesses, excluding Lafarges UK gypsum activities. The deal was set to combine Anglo Americans Tarmac UK unit, employing 4,500 people, with Lafarges cement, concrete and aggregate quarries, depots, in November 2012, Lafarge and Anglo American agreed to the sale of £285 million worth of British assets to Mittal Investments. In December of that year, Anglo Americans Tarmac unit became Hope Ready Mixed Concrete Limited, the deal was completed in January 2013 with the creation of Hope Construction Materials. The merger was completed in March 2013 following receipt of necessary approvals from the Competition Commission, Lafarge Tarmac bought Tarmac Building Products from Anglo American in April 2014. Also in April 2014, Lafarge announced it was merging with Switzerland-based cement giant Holcim Ltd. to form the worlds largest cement producer, LafargeHolcim. Three months later, in July 2014, Anglo American advised it was selling its 50% interest to Lafarge SA for £885 million, in February 2015, Lafarge announced it had reached an agreement to sell the company to CRH plc, with the exception of its Cauldon cement plant. Anglo American sold its 50% stake to Lafarge first, for £992 million, CRH completed the purchase in August 2015

4.
Greater London Council
–
The Greater London Council was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council which had covered a smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 1986 by the Local Government Act 1985 and its powers were devolved to the London boroughs, a new administrative body, known as the Greater London Authority, was established in 2000. It further recommended that the LCC be replaced by a strategic authority, with responsibility for public transport, road schemes, housing development. Most of the Commission’s recommendations were accepted, but the number of new boroughs was reduced to 32, other areas recommended for inclusion that were never part of Greater London included Epsom and Ewell, Caterham and Warlingham, Esher, and Weybridge. GLC councillors elected for areas within the former County of London became ex officio members of the new Inner London Education Authority, the GLC was responsible for running strategic services such as the fire service, emergency planning, waste disposal and flood prevention. The GLC shared responsibility with the London boroughs for providing roads, housing, city planning and it had a very limited role in direct service provision with most functions the responsibility of the London boroughs. The GLC did not take control of transport from the London Transport Board until 1970. Under the 1963 Act, the GLC was required to produce a Greater London Development Plan, the plan included the comprehensive redevelopment of Covent Garden and creating a central London motorway loop. The plan was subject to an Inquiry which lasted from July 1970 until May 1972, the campaign to save Covent Garden along with various opposition on other matters largely derailed the plan. Each of the six GLC elections was won by the national opposition party. The first GLC election was on 9 April 1964, each of the new boroughs elected a number of representatives under the bloc vote system. Despite Conservative hopes, the first GLC consisted of 64 Labour and 36 Conservative councillors, at the next election in 1967 the unpopularity of the national Labour government produced a massive Conservative victory with 82 seats, to Labours 18. Desmond Plummer became the first Conservative leader of London-wide government in 33 years, the Conservatives retained control in 1970 with a reduced majority. In 1972 the electoral system was reformed to introduce single-member constituencies for the election after the 1973 contest, Labour fought the 1973 election on a strongly socialist platform and won with 57 seats to 33 for the Conservatives. The GLCs hopes under the Labour administration of Reg Goodwin were badly affected by the oil crisis of 1974, massive inflation which when combined with the GLCs £1.6 billion debt led to heavy rate increases and unpopular budget cuts. Some months before the 1977 elections the Labour Group began to split, a left group, including Ken Livingstone, denounced the election manifesto of the party. The Conservatives regained control in May 1977, winning 64 seats under their new Thatcherite leader Horace Cutler against a Labour total of just 28, Cutler headed a resolutely right-wing administration, cutting spending, selling council housing and deprioritising London Transport

5.
Dam
–
A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aquaculture. Hydropower is often used in conjunction with dams to generate electricity, a dam can also be used to collect water or for storage of water which can be evenly distributed between locations. Dams generally serve the purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. The word dam can be traced back to Middle English, and before that, from Middle Dutch, the first known appearance of dam occurs in 1165. However, there is one village, Obdam, that is mentioned in 1120. The word seems to be related to the Greek word taphos, so the word should be understood as dike from dug out earth. The names of more than 40 places from the Middle Dutch era such as Amsterdam and Rotterdam, early dam building took place in Mesopotamia and the Middle East. Dams were used to control the level, for Mesopotamias weather affected the Tigris. The earliest known dam is the Jawa Dam in Jordan,100 kilometres northeast of the capital Amman and this gravity dam featured an originally 9-metre-high and 1 m-wide stone wall, supported by a 50 m-wide earth rampart. The structure is dated to 3000 BC, the Ancient Egyptian Sadd-el-Kafara Dam at Wadi Al-Garawi, located about 25 km south of Cairo, was 102 m long at its base and 87 m wide. The structure was built around 2800 or 2600 BC as a dam for flood control. During the Twelfth Dynasty in the 19th century BC, the Pharaohs Senosert III, Amenemhat III, two dams called Ha-Uar running east-west were built to retain water during the annual flood and then release it to surrounding lands. The lake called Mer-wer or Lake Moeris covered 1,700 km2 and is today as Berkat Qaroun. One of the wonders of the ancient world was the Great Dam of Marib in Yemen. Repairs were carried out during various periods, most important around 750 BC and these extensive works were not actually finalized until 325 AD and allowed the irrigation of 25,000 acres. By the mid-late 3rd century BC, an intricate water-management system within Dholavira in modern-day India was built, the system included 16 reservoirs, dams and various channels for collecting water and storing it. Eflatun Pınar is a Hittite dam and spring temple near Konya and it is thought to be from the time of the Hittite empire between the 15th and 13th century BC

6.
Steel dam
–
A steel dam is a type of dam that is made of steel, rather than the more common masonry, earthworks, concrete or timber construction materials. Relatively few examples were ever built, the third, the Hauser Lake Dam in Montana, was finished in 1907 but failed in 1908. Steel dams were found uneconomical after the World War I as the steel prices raised many times compared to cement prices though they are equally sound like other dam building materials, Steel dams use a series of footings anchored in the earth. These footings hold struts which in turn hold up a series of deck girders which in turn hold steel plates and it is these plates that the water comes in contact with. The girders and plates are angled in the direction so that part of the weight of the water acts with a downward force on the struts and footings. In the direct strutted version, shown in the illustration at left, there is thus no tensile force in the plate girders. In the cantilever strutted version, shown in the illustration at left, by all going to the same footing, the upper part of the deck girders are thus in tension and the moment of the cantilever section is offset by the moment of the water impinging on that section. In both types of construction, it is typical for the plates to have an appearance, as can be seen in the Redridge dam illustration. It is not known if this is due to the stretching or if this was a designed-in feature. It may have been to allow for expansion/contraction as the temperature changed, there are two design trade-offs, the girder plate angle and the strut angle. Increasing the strut angle towards vertical reduces the moment on the footings. Steel dams may or may not have a spillway, the long term strength of the dam is not known. As with other dams, undermining is a failure mode Jackson. Great American Bridges and Dams, John Wiley & Sons, New York, ISBN 0-471-14385-5,1984, irrigation and Water Power Engineering, a book found via Google books. One of few sources to mention steel dams, says there are 3 extant in the US, some of this article uses material from this text. University of Queensland A Brief History of Steel Dams by Hubert CHANSON and it indicates that the Hauser Lake dam was built between 1905-1907 and failed in 1908, after SCHUYLER

7.
Thalweg
–
In geography and fluvial geomorphology, a thalweg or talweg is the line of lowest elevation within a valley or watercourse. Under international law, thalwegs can acquire special significance because disputed river borders are often deemed to run along the rivers thalweg, the word thalweg is of 19th-century German origin. The German word Thalweg is a noun that is built from the German elements Thal meaning valley. In hydrological and fluvial landforms, the thalweg is a line drawn to join the lowest points along the length of a stream bed or valley in its downward slope. The thalweg thus marks the direction of a watercourse. The term is sometimes used to refer to a subterranean stream that percolates under the surface. Slowing stream bed erosion by taking advantage of a thalweg helps stabilize running water sources, placing boulders along the thalweg in a running water source helps to protect the channels sedimentary erosion and deposit balance. This process of utilizing a thalweg to slow stream bed erosion was used in Meacham Creek in Umatilla, various states have also defined their watercourse international boundaries by a median line, left bank, right bank, etc. Stream gradient USGS, Stream Modeling website

8.
Meter
–
The metre or meter, is the base unit of length in the International System of Units. The metre is defined as the length of the path travelled by light in a vacuum in 1/299792458 seconds, the metre was originally defined in 1793 as one ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the North Pole. In 1799, it was redefined in terms of a metre bar. In 1960, the metre was redefined in terms of a number of wavelengths of a certain emission line of krypton-86. In 1983, the current definition was adopted, the imperial inch is defined as 0.0254 metres. One metre is about 3 3⁄8 inches longer than a yard, Metre is the standard spelling of the metric unit for length in nearly all English-speaking nations except the United States and the Philippines, which use meter. Measuring devices are spelled -meter in all variants of English, the suffix -meter has the same Greek origin as the unit of length. This range of uses is found in Latin, French, English. Thus calls for measurement and moderation. In 1668 the English cleric and philosopher John Wilkins proposed in an essay a decimal-based unit of length, as a result of the French Revolution, the French Academy of Sciences charged a commission with determining a single scale for all measures. In 1668, Wilkins proposed using Christopher Wrens suggestion of defining the metre using a pendulum with a length which produced a half-period of one second, christiaan Huygens had observed that length to be 38 Rijnland inches or 39.26 English inches. This is the equivalent of what is now known to be 997 mm, no official action was taken regarding this suggestion. In the 18th century, there were two approaches to the definition of the unit of length. One favoured Wilkins approach, to define the metre in terms of the length of a pendulum which produced a half-period of one second. The other approach was to define the metre as one ten-millionth of the length of a quadrant along the Earths meridian, that is, the distance from the Equator to the North Pole. This means that the quadrant would have defined as exactly 10000000 metres at that time. To establish a universally accepted foundation for the definition of the metre, more measurements of this meridian were needed. This portion of the meridian, assumed to be the length as the Paris meridian, was to serve as the basis for the length of the half meridian connecting the North Pole with the Equator

9.
Environment Agency
–
The Environment Agencys stated purpose is, to protect or enhance the environment, taken as a whole so as to promote the objective of achieving sustainable development. Protection of the environment relates to such as flood and pollution. The vision of the Agency is of a rich, healthy and diverse environment for present and it is organised into eight directorates that report to the chief executive. There are two policy and process directorates, one deals with Flood and Coastal Risk Management and the other with Environment and Business. These are backed up by the Evidence directorate, the fourth directorate is a single Operations delivery unit, responsible for national services, and line management of all the Regional and Area staff. The remaining directorates are central shared service groups for Finance, Legal Services, Resources, in support of its aims, the Agency acts as an operating authority, a regulatory authority and a licence authority. The agency is funded in part from the UK government Department for Environment, Food, funding for asset management and improvement and acquisition of flood risk management assets has traditionally come from local authorities via Flood Defence Committees. This was then effectively repaid by central Government in later years as part of the Formula Spending Share, in 2005 this was simplified by making a direct transfer from Treasury to the Environment Agency in the form of Flood Defence Grant in Aid. The Environment Agencys total funding in 2007–08 was £1,025 million, of that total, £628 million was provided in the form of flood defence grant-in-aid from government. In addition, £347 million was raised through statutory charging schemes and flood defence levies, in 2007–08 had an operational budget of £1.025 billion, of which £628m was grant from the Agencys sponsoring Government Departments. Approximately half the Agencys expenditure is on flood risk management, of the remainder, 12% goes to water resources, and 6% to other water functions including navigation and wildlife. Its chief executive is Sir James Bevan, Sir Philip Dilley resigned as chairman on 11 January 2016, with Emma Howard Boyd becoming acting chair. The Environment Agency was created by the Environment Act 1995, and it had responsibility for the whole of England and Wales but with specifically designated border arrangements with Scotland covering the catchment of the River Tweed. All of the bodies were disbanded and the local authorities relinquished their waste regulatory role. At the same time, the Agency took responsibility for issuing warnings to the public. On 1 April 2013, that part of the Environment Agency covering Wales was merged into Natural Resources Wales, the Environment Agency is the principal flood risk management operating authority. It has the power to flood risk from designated main rivers. These functions in relation to other rivers in England are undertaken by Local Authorities or internal drainage boards, the Environment Agency is also responsible for increasing public awareness of flood risk, flood forecasting and warning and has a general supervisory duty for flood risk management

10.
Floodplain
–
In other words, a floodplain is an area near a river or a stream which floods when the water level reaches flood stage. Flood plains are made by a meander eroding sideways as it travels downstream, when a river breaks its banks and floods, it leaves behind layers of alluvium. These gradually build up to create the floor of the flood plain, floodplains generally contain unconsolidated sediments, often extending below the bed of the stream. These are accumulations of sand, gravel, loam, silt, and/or clay, and are often important aquifers, geologically ancient floodplains are often represented in the landscape by fluvial terraces. These are old floodplains that remain relatively high above the present floodplain and it is probable that any section of such an alluvial plain would show deposits of a similar character. The floodplain during its formation is marked by meandering or anastomotic streams, oxbow lakes and bayous, marshes or stagnant pools, and is occasionally completely covered with water. When the drainage system has ceased to act or is diverted for any reason. The floodplain differs, however, because it is not altogether flat and it has a gentle slope downstream, and often, for a distance, from the side towards the center. The floodplain is the place for a river to dissipate its energy. Meanders form over the floodplain to slow down the flow of water, in terms of flood management the upper part of the floodplain is crucial as this is where the flood water control starts. Artificial canalisation of the river here will have a impact on wider flooding. This is the basis of flood management. Floodplains can support particularly rich ecosystems, both in quantity and diversity, tugay forests form an ecosystem associated with floodplains, especially in Central Asia. They are a category of riparian zones or systems, a floodplain can contain 100 or even 1,000 times as many species as a river. Microscopic organisms thrive and larger species enter a rapid breeding cycle, opportunistic feeders move in to take advantage. The production of nutrients peaks and falls away quickly, however the surge of new growth endures for some time and this makes floodplains particularly valuable for agriculture. River flow rates are undergoing change following suit with climate change and this change is a threat to the riparian zones and other flood plain forests. These forests have over time synced their seedling deposits after the peaks in flow to best take advantage of the nutrient rich soil generated by peak flow

11.
Greater London
–
London, or Greater London, is a region of England which forms the administrative boundaries of London. It is organised into 33 local government districts, the 32 London boroughs, the Greater London Authority, based in Southwark, is responsible for strategic local government across the region and consists of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. The county of Greater London was created on 1 April 1965 through the London Government Act 1963, administratively, Greater London was first established as a sui generis council area under the Greater London Council between 1963 and 1986. The area was re-established as a region in 1994, and the Greater London Authority formed in 2000, the region covers 1,572 km2 and had a population of 8,174,000 at the 2011 census. In 2012, it had the highest GVA per capita in the United Kingdom at £37,232, the Greater London Built-up Area—used in some national statistics—is a measure of the continuous urban area of London, and therefore includes areas outside of the administrative region. The term Greater London has been and still is used to different areas in governance, statistics, history. In terms of ceremonial counties, London is divided into the small City of London, outside the limited boundaries of the City, a variety of arrangements has governed the wider area since 1855, culminating in the creation of the Greater London administrative area in 1965. The Greater London Arterial Road Programme was devised between 1913 and 1916, one of the larger early forms was the Greater London Planning Region, devised in 1927, which occupied 1,856 square miles and included 9 million people. The LCC pressed for an alteration in its boundaries soon after the end of the First World War, noting that within the Metropolitan, a Royal Commission on London Government was set up to consider the issue. The LCC proposed a vast new area for Greater London, with a boundary somewhere between the Metropolitan Police District and the home counties, protests were made at the possibility of including Windsor, Slough and Eton in the authority. The Commission made its report in 1923, rejecting the LCCs scheme, two minority reports favoured change beyond the amalgamation of smaller urban districts, including both smaller borough councils and a central authority for strategic functions. The London Traffic Act 1924 was a result of the Commission, Greater London originally had a two-tier system of local government, with the Greater London Council sharing power with the City of London Corporation and the 32 London Borough councils. The GLC was abolished in 1986 by the Local Government Act 1985 and its functions were devolved to the City Corporation and the London Boroughs, with some functions transferred to central government and joint boards. Greater London was used to form the London region of England in 1994, a referendum held in 1998 established a public will to recreate an upper tier of government to cover the region. The Greater London Authority, London Assembly and the directly elected Mayor of London were created in 2000 by the Greater London Authority Act 1999, in 2000, the outer boundary of the Metropolitan Police District was re-aligned to the Greater London boundary. The 2000 and 2004 mayoral elections were won by Ken Livingstone, the 2008 and 2012 elections were won by Boris Johnson. The 2016 election was won by Sadiq Khan, Greater London continues to include the most closely associated parts of the Greater London Urban Area and their historic buffers. Thus it includes, in five boroughs, significant parts of the Metropolitan Green Belt which protects designated greenfield land in a way to the citys parks

12.
Tide
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Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon and the Sun and the rotation of the Earth. Some shorelines experience a semi-diurnal tide—two nearly equal high and low tides each day, other locations experience a diurnal tide—only one high and low tide each day. A mixed tide—two uneven tides a day, or one high, Tides vary on timescales ranging from hours to years due to a number of factors. To make accurate records, tide gauges at fixed stations measure water level over time, gauges ignore variations caused by waves with periods shorter than minutes. These data are compared to the level usually called mean sea level. Tidal phenomena are not limited to the oceans, but can occur in other systems whenever a gravitational field varies in time. For example, the part of the Earth is affected by tides. Tide changes proceed via the following stages, Sea level rises over several hours, covering the intertidal zone, the water rises to its highest level, reaching high tide. Sea level falls over several hours, revealing the intertidal zone, the water stops falling, reaching low tide. Oscillating currents produced by tides are known as tidal streams, the moment that the tidal current ceases is called slack water or slack tide. The tide then reverses direction and is said to be turning, slack water usually occurs near high water and low water. But there are locations where the moments of slack tide differ significantly from those of high, Tides are commonly semi-diurnal, or diurnal. The two high waters on a day are typically not the same height, these are the higher high water. Similarly, the two low waters each day are the low water and the lower low water. The daily inequality is not consistent and is small when the Moon is over the equator. From the highest level to the lowest, Highest Astronomical Tide – The highest tide which can be predicted to occur, note that meteorological conditions may add extra height to the HAT. Mean High Water Springs – The average of the two high tides on the days of spring tides, mean High Water Neaps – The average of the two high tides on the days of neap tides. Mean Sea Level – This is the sea level

13.
Storm surge
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Most casualties during tropical cyclones occur as the result of storm surges. The deadliest storm surge on record was the 1970 Bhola cyclone, the low-lying coast of the Bay of Bengal is particularly vulnerable to surges caused by tropical cyclones. The deadliest storm surge in the twenty-first century was caused by the Cyclone Nargis, the next deadliest in this century was caused by the Typhoon Haiyan, which killed more than 6,000 people in the central Philippines in 2013 and resulted in economic losses estimated at $14 billion. Louis, Diamondhead and Pass Christian in Mississippi, a high storm surge occurred in New York City from Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, with a high tide of 14 ft. The pressure effects of a tropical cyclone will cause the level in the open ocean to rise in regions of low atmospheric pressure. The rising water level will counteract the low pressure such that the total pressure at some plane beneath the water surface remains constant. This effect is estimated at a 10 mm increase in sea level for every millibar drop in atmospheric pressure, strong surface winds cause surface currents at a 45° angle to the wind direction, by an effect known as the Ekman Spiral. Wind stresses cause a phenomenon referred to as wind set-up, which is the tendency for water levels to increase at the downwind shore, intuitively, this is caused by the storm simply blowing the water towards one side of the basin in the direction of its winds. Because the Ekman Spiral effects spread vertically through the water, the effect is proportional to depth. The pressure effect and the wind set-up on an open coast will be driven into bays in the way as the astronomical tide. The Earths rotation causes the Coriolis effect, which bends currents to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere. When this bend brings the currents into more contact with the shore it can amplify the surge. The effect of waves, while powered by the wind, is distinct from a storms wind-powered currents. Powerful wind whips up large, strong waves in the direction of its movement, although these surface waves are responsible for very little water transport in open water, they may be responsible for significant transport near the shore. When waves are breaking on a more or less parallel to the beach. The rainfall effect is experienced predominantly in estuaries, Hurricanes may dump as much as 12 in of rainfall in 24 hours over large areas, and higher rainfall densities in localized areas. As a result, watersheds can quickly surge water into the rivers that drain them and this can increase the water level near the head of tidal estuaries as storm-driven waters surging in from the ocean meet rainfall flowing from the estuary. This situation well exemplified by the southeast coast of Florida

14.
North Sea
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The North Sea is a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean located between Great Britain, Scandinavia, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the ocean through the English Channel in the south and it is more than 970 kilometres long and 580 kilometres wide, with an area of around 570,000 square kilometres. The North Sea has long been the site of important European shipping lanes as well as a major fishery, the North Sea was the centre of the Vikings rise. Subsequently, the Hanseatic League, the Netherlands, and the British each sought to dominate the North Sea and thus the access to the markets, as Germanys only outlet to the ocean, the North Sea continued to be strategically important through both World Wars. The coast of the North Sea presents a diversity of geological and geographical features, in the north, deep fjords and sheer cliffs mark the Norwegian and Scottish coastlines, whereas in the south it consists primarily of sandy beaches and wide mudflats. Due to the population, heavy industrialization, and intense use of the sea and area surrounding it. In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean, in the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively. In the north it is bordered by the Shetland Islands, and connects with the Norwegian Sea, the North Sea is more than 970 kilometres long and 580 kilometres wide, with an area of 570,000 square kilometres and a volume of 54,000 cubic kilometres. Around the edges of the North Sea are sizeable islands and archipelagos, including Shetland, Orkney, the North Sea receives freshwater from a number of European continental watersheds, as well as the British Isles. A large part of the European drainage basin empties into the North Sea including water from the Baltic Sea, the largest and most important rivers flowing into the North Sea are the Elbe and the Rhine – Meuse watershed. Around 185 million people live in the catchment area of the rivers discharging into the North Sea encompassing some highly industrialized areas, for the most part, the sea lies on the European continental shelf with a mean depth of 90 metres. The only exception is the Norwegian trench, which extends parallel to the Norwegian shoreline from Oslo to a north of Bergen. It is between 20 and 30 kilometres wide and has a depth of 725 metres. The Dogger Bank, a vast moraine, or accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris and this feature has produced the finest fishing location of the North Sea. The Long Forties and the Broad Fourteens are large areas with uniform depth in fathoms. These great banks and others make the North Sea particularly hazardous to navigate, the Devils Hole lies 200 miles east of Dundee, Scotland. The feature is a series of trenches between 20 and 30 kilometres long,1 and 2 kilometres wide and up to 230 metres deep. Other areas which are less deep are Cleaver Bank, Fisher Bank, the International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the North Sea as follows, On the Southwest

15.
Isle of Dogs
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The Isle of Dogs is an area in the East End of London that is bounded on three sides by one of the largest meanders in the River Thames. The soil is alluvial and silty in nature, underlaid by clay or mud, the first known written mention of the Isle of Dogs is in the ‘Letters & Papers of Henry VIII’. Some say it is a corruption of the Isle of Ducks, Jonson was imprisoned for a year, Nashe avoided arrest by fleeing the area. Samuel Pepys referred to the unlucky Isle of Dogs, the presence of Dutch engineers reclaiming the land from a disastrous flood. The presence of gibbets on the foreshore facing Greenwich, a yeoman farmer called Brache, this being an old word for a type of hunting dog. The original docks located here were used for firewood importation and the phrase is linked to fire dogs, the dogs of a later king, Henry VIII, who also kept deer in Greenwich Park. Again it is thought that his hunting dogs might have kept in derelict farm buildings on the Island. Isle of Dykes, which then got corrupted over the years, the whole area was once simply known as Stepney Marsh, Anton van den Wyngaerdes Panorama of London dated 1543 depicts and refers to the Isle of Dogs. Records show that ships preparing to carry the English royal household to Calais in 1520 docked at the bank of the Island. The name Isle of Dogges occurs in the Thamesis Descriptio of 1588, the name is next applied to the Isle of Dogs Fam shown on a map of 1683. At the same time, the area was known as Isle of Dogs or the Blackwell levels. By 1855, it was incorporated within the parish of Poplar under the aegis of the Poplar Board of Works and this was incorporated into the Metropolitan Borough of Poplar on its formation in 1900. After the building of the Docks, and with an increasing population and this area includes Millwall, Cubitt Town, and Blackwall. The south of the isle opposite Greenwich was once known as North Greenwich, between 1986 and 1992 it enjoyed a brief formal existence, as the name Isle of Dogs was applied to one of seven neighbourhoods to which power was devolved from the council. It was the site of the highest concentration of housing in England but is now best known as the location of the Canary Wharf office complex. One Canada Square, also known as the Canary Wharf Tower, is the second tallest habitable building in Britain at 244 metres, the Isle of Dogs is situated some distance downriver from the City of London. The area was sparsely populated marshland before its drainage and planting in the 13th century. A catastrophic flood occurred in 1488, resulting in the returning to its previous marshy condition

16.
Silvertown
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It was named after Samuel Winkworth Silvers former rubber factory which opened in 1852, and is now dominated by the Tate & Lyle sugar refinery and the John Knight ABP animal rendering plant. In 1852 S. W. Silver and Co moved to the area from Greenwich and established a rubber works and this subsequently developed into the works of the India Rubber, Gutta Percha and Telegraph Cable Company, which constructed and laid many submarine cables. By the 1860s a number of manure and chemical works and petroleum storage depots had been set up, in 1864 the area became an ecclesiastical parish of its own, centred on the church of St Marks. Sugar refiners in the area were joined by Henry Tate in 1877 and Abram Lyle in 1881, prior to the merger, which occurred after they had died, the two men were bitter business rivals, although they had never met in person. Tate & Lyle still has two refineries in the area. In 1889 Silvers factory was the scene of a week long strike by the majority of its 3,000 workers. The strikers were demanding pay and were inspired by the recent successes of New Unionism in the East End of London. Management refused to negotiate with the strikers who had popular support. Leading figures in the strike included Tom Mann and Eleanor Marx, the workers were eventually starved back to work, with many being victimised for their role. In the aftermath of the strike, Silvers declared a dividend of 5 percent. Silvers management were congratulated by the rest of the industry for holding a line against New Unionism, on 19 January 1917 parts of Silvertown were devastated by a massive TNT explosion at the Brunner-Mond munitions factory, in what is known as the Silvertown explosion. Seventy three people died and hundreds were injured in one of the largest explosions ever experienced in the British Isles. In the early 20th Century the area suffered greatly from road congestion due to being located between the Thames and the Royal Docks, then the largest and one of the busiest dock groups in the world. The area was cut off for much of the time by lifting bridges over dock entrances and this led in the early 1930s to the construction of the elevated Silvertown Way, one of the earliest urban flyovers. On the first night of The Blitz, Tate and Lyles sugar refinery, John Knights Primrose Soapworks, Silvers was eventually taken over by the British Tyre and Rubber Co, later known as BTR Industries. The site closed in the 1960s and is now the Thameside Industrial Estate, another major local employer was the Loders and Nucoline plant at Cairn Mills, a traditional port oleo industry and formerly part of Unilever. This originally milled seeds but later concentrated on production of fats from palm kernel oil, the district formed part of the County Borough of West Ham in Essex until 1965. On 21 April 2015, Newham Council gave planning permission to The Silvertown Partnership for a new £3. 5billion redevelopment of the area, the 7 million square foot development will provide offices, a tech hub,3,000 new homes and brand experience pavilions

17.
London Borough of Newham
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It is 5 miles east of the City of London, north of the River Thames. Newham was one of the six host boroughs for the 2012 Summer Olympics, the local authority is Newham London Borough Council. The boroughs motto, from its Coat of Arms, is Progress with the People, the Coat of Arms was derived from that of the County Borough of West Ham, while the motto is a translation of the County Borough of East Hams Latin Progressio cum Populo. Green Street and Boundary Road mark the boundary between the two. North Woolwich also became part of the borough along with an area west of the River Roding which had previously been part of the Municipal Borough of Barking. Newham was devised for the borough as a new name. Unlike most English districts, its council is led by an elected mayor of Newham. From 2002 to 2009 one of the councillors had been appointed as the ambassador and performed the civic. The borough is considered part of Outer London for purposes such as funding and this is because the majority of Newham was not part of the 1889–1965 County of London. The council is actively campaigning to have Newham officially considered part of Inner London in order to increase its level of government grant by £60 million, at the borough elections held in 2014, the Labour Party won all 60 of the seats on the Council. Sir Robin Wales was re-elected as the boroughs Executive Mayor with 61% of the first preference votes cast, Newham has the youngest overall population and one of the lowest White British populations in the country according to the 2011 Census. The borough has the second highest percentage of Muslims in Britain, after the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, at 32%. When using Simpsons Diversity Index on 10 aggregated ethnic groups, the 2001 census identified Newham as the most ethnically diverse district in England and Wales, Newham has the lowest percentage of White British residents of all of Londons boroughs. The joint-lowest wards with White British population are Green Street East and Green Street West, East Ham North is closely followed, at 4. 9%. People of White British ancestry nevertheless remain the largest single group in the borough. The largest non-White British ethnic groups are Indian, African, Bangladeshi, Newham has had for many decades a large Indian community. The ethnic group to increase the most in number since 1991 is the Bangladeshi community, the Borough is the education authority for the district providing education in a mix of Foundation, community and voluntary aided schools. The Essex Primary School in Sheridan Road with over 900 pupils is one of the biggest primary schools in London and this is currently based on the UEL Stratford campus, but is planned to move to its own facilities

18.
Royal Borough of Greenwich
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The Royal Borough of Greenwich is a London borough in south-east London, England. The local council is Greenwich London Borough Council which meets in Woolwich Town Hall, the councils offices are also based in Woolwich, the main urban centre in the borough. Greenwich is world-famous as the location of the Prime Meridian. The Prime Meridian running through Greenwich and the Greenwich Observatory is where the designation Greenwich Mean Time, or GMT began, in 2012, Greenwich was listed as a top ten global destination by Frommers – the only UK destination to be listed. Greenwich was one of six host boroughs for the 2012 London Olympics and events were held at the Royal Artillery Barracks, Greenwich Park and it is also the home borough of professional football club Charlton Athletic. It was formed in 1965 by merging the areas of the metropolitan boroughs of Greenwich. The name Charlton was briefly considered for the borough, Greenwich once applied for city status, but was turned down. If the application had been accepted the borough would have known as the City of Greenwich. The borough lies along the bank of the River Thames between Deptford and Thamesmead. It has an area of 5,044 hectares, because of the bends of the river, its waterfront is as long as 8.5 miles. The boroughs population in 2011 was 254,557,52. 3% of the community defined themselves as white British. The largest minority groups represented were of Black and Asian heritage, central Greenwich Town contains a UNESCO World Heritage Site centred on Christopher Wrens Royal Naval College and the Old Royal Observatory. The 2013/14 Mayor was Cllr Angela Cornforth, the 2014/15 Mayor was Cllr M Hayes. The 2015/16 Mayor was Cllr Norman Adams, the 2016/17 Mayor is Cllr Olu Babatola, the first African born individual to be elected to the office. The ‘time-ball’ is set with small rubies, the Executive is composed of ten Labour members, led by Cllr Chris Roberts who has been Leader of the Council since 2001. Arms were originally granted to the London Borough by letters patent dated 1 October 1965, although much of the 1965 design has been retained, the arms have been altered in 2012 by the addition of a representation of the Thames. In addition a crest and supporters were added to the arms, the Royal Borough of Greenwich is twinned with, – Tema, Ghana – Reinickendorf, Berlin, Germany – Maribor, Slovenia Greenwich London Borough Council comprises 51 councillors. The Labour Party currently has a majority on the council, holding 43 seats

19.
Hermann Bondi
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Sir Hermann Bondi KCB FRS was an Anglo-Austrian mathematician and cosmologist. He is best known for developing the Steady State theory of the universe with Fred Hoyle and he contributed to the theory of general relativity. Bondi was born in Vienna, the son of a medical doctor and he was brought up in Vienna, where he studied at the Realgymnasium. He showed early prodigious ability at mathematics, and was recommended to Arthur Eddington by Abraham Fraenkel, Eddington encouraged him to travel to England to read the mathematical tripos at Trinity College, Cambridge. He arrived in Cambridge in 1937, escaping from anti-semitism in Austria, realising the perilous position of his parents in 1938, shortly before the Anschluss, he sent them a telegram telling them to leave Austria at once. They managed to reach Switzerland, and later settled in New York, in the early years of World War II, he was interned on the Isle of Man and in Canada as a friendly enemy alien. Other internees included Thomas Gold and Max Perutz, Bondi and Gold had been released by the end of 1941, and worked with Fred Hoyle on radar at the Admiralty Signals Establishment. He became a British subject in 1946, Bondi lectured in mathematics at the University of Cambridge from 1945 to 1954. Steady State theory was eclipsed by the rival Big Bang theory with the discovery of the microwave background. A1947 paper revived interest in the Lemaître–Tolman metric, an inhomogeneous and he became a professor at Kings College London in 1954, and was given the title of Emeritus Professor there in 1985. He was secretary of the Royal Astronomical Society from 1956 to 1964, Bondi was also active outside the confines of academic lecturing and research. He became a fellow of the Royal Society in 1959 and he made a series of television programs called E=mc2 for the BBC in 1963. He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Bath in 1973 and he was awarded an Honorary Degree by the University of Bath in 1974. His report into the flooding of London in 1953 led eventually to the building of the Thames Barrier and he also supported the proposal for a Severn Barrage to generate electricity, but this project was not carried forward. His papers from 1940 to 2000 are archived in 109 archive boxes by the Janus Project and his parents were Jewish, but he never felt the need for religion and was a lifelong humanist. He was president of the British Humanist Association from 1982 to 1999 and he was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto. He married Christine Stockman, also a mathematician and astronomer, in 1947, she had one of Hoyles research students. Together, they had two sons and three daughters, one of whom is Professor Liz Bondi, feminist geographer at the University of Edinburgh and he died in Cambridge in 2005, aged 85. and his ashes were scattered at Anglesey Abbey near Cambridge

20.
North Sea flood of 1953
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The 1953 North Sea flood was a major flood caused by a heavy storm that occurred on the night of Saturday,31 January 1953 and morning of Sunday,1 February 1953. The floods struck the Netherlands, Belgium, England and Scotland, the flood and waves overwhelmed sea defences and caused extensive flooding. Most of the casualties occurred in the province of Zeeland. In England,307 people were killed in the counties of Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, twenty-eight people were killed in West Flanders, Belgium. In addition, more than 230 deaths occurred on water craft along Northern European coasts as well as on ships in waters of the North Sea. The ferry MV Princess Victoria was lost at sea in the North Channel east of Belfast with 133 fatalities, realising that such infrequent events could recur, the Netherlands particularly, and the United Kingdom carried out major studies on strengthening of coastal defences. The Netherlands developed the Delta Works, a system of dams. The UK constructed storm surge barriers on the River Thames below London and on the River Hull where it meets the Humber estuary. On the night of 31 January –1 February 1953, many dykes in the provinces of Zeeland, South Holland and North Brabant proved unable to resist the combination of spring tide, on both the islands and the mainland, large areas of country were flooded. Many people still commemorate the dead on 1 February, at the time of the flood, none of the local radio stations broadcast at night, and many of the smaller weather stations operated only during the day. As a result, the warnings of the KNMI did not penetrate the area in time. People were unable to prepare for the impending flood, as the disaster struck on a Saturday night, many government and emergency offices in the affected area were not staffed. As telephone and telegraph networks were disrupted by flood damage, within hours amateur radio operators went into the areas with their equipment to form a voluntary emergency radio network. Large parts of South Holland, Zeeland and North Brabant were inundated, in North Holland only one polder was flooded. The most extensive flooding occurred on the islands of Schouwen-Duiveland, Tholen, Sint Philipsland, Goeree-Overflakkee, the highest death tolls were recorded on the islands of Schouwen-Duiveland and Goeree-Overflakkee. Afterward, the government formed the Delta Commission to study the causes and they estimated that flooding killed 1,835 people and forced the emergency evacuation of 70,000 more. Floods covered 9% of Dutch farmland, and sea water flooded 1,365 km² of land, an estimated 30,000 animals drowned, and 47,300 buildings were damaged, of which 10,000 were destroyed. Total damage is estimated at 1 billion Dutch guilders, the Schielands Hoge Zeedijk along the river Hollandse IJssel was all that protected three million people in the provinces of South and North Holland from flooding

21.
Tarmac Group
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Tarmac Group Limited was a multinational building materials company headquartered in Wolverhampton, United Kingdom. It produced road surfacing and heavy building materials including aggregates, concrete, cement and lime, as well as operating as a road construction, the company was founded in 1903 by Edgar Purnell Hooley after he patented the road surfacing material tarmac in 1901. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE100 Index before being acquired by Anglo American in 1999. In 2010, the group was separated into Tarmac Limited and Tarmac Building Products, Anglo American merged Tarmac Limited with the UK assets of Lafarge in 2013 to form a 50,50 joint venture, Lafarge Tarmac. Tarmac Building Products was subsequently sold to Lafarge Tarmac in 2014, the company was originally formed by Edgar Purnell Hooley as the Tar Macadam Syndicate Limited in 1903. The business was secured in 1905 by Sir Alfred Hickman, who became its first Chairman, the Company remained under the effective control of members of the Hickman and Martin family until 1979. There were Hickmans as Chairmen until 1959, more significantly, Cecil Martin, cecil’s son Robin followed him in turn, serving first as managing director and then Chairman and Chief Executive from 1971 to 1979. Tarmac was first listed on the Birmingham Stock Exchange in 1913, during the 1920s and ‘30s Tarmac had to cope with national strikes, recession and periods of intense competition. Nevertheless, the Company gradually expanded its coverage, increased its production of paving slabs. As with so many companies in the industry, World War II increased the demand for Tarmac’s services, notably for surfacing the large numbers of airfields being built or modernised. ”Under Robin Martin’s leadership, Tarmac moved from being an important regional force to a national roadstone. Acquisitions played a role in Tarmac’s growth. While leading the division, Martin had been responsible in 1959 for the acquisition of local competitor Tarslag and Crow Catchpole. In 1964, now managing director, Martin acquired key quarrying assets, including Cliffe Hill Granite, Rowley Regis Granite. In 1968 Martin engineered the three way merger between Tarmac, Derbyshire Stone and the Scottish Asphalt company, William Briggs, creating the country’s “largest roadstone, the group was briefly known as Tarmac Derby but the Derby name was later dropped. However, the acquisition which was to change the direction of Tarmac was McLean Homes bought at the beginning of 1974. McLean was run by Eric Pountain, an estate agent who had sold his own housebuilding business to McLean. McLean had been bought to strengthen Tarmac’s own poorly performing housebuilding division, Pountain had ambitions to become a national housebuilder and by the end of the 1970s McLean was building 4,000 houses a year and a substantial contributor to group profits. However, there were problems elsewhere in the group, in 1976 Tarmac had bought the old-established contracting firm of Holland, Hannen & Cubitts, this was followed by contract provisions of £16m in its Nigerian subsidiary

22.
Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company
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Cleveland Bridge UK Ltd is a renowned bridge building and structural engineering company based in Darlington, England. It has been involved in major projects including the Victoria Falls Bridge, Sydney Harbour Bridge. Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company was founded in 1877 as a fabrication business, in 1967 the company was acquired by The Cementation Company which was bought by Trafalgar House in 1970. A works was established in Dubai in 1976, and a new engineering works opened in Darlington in 1982, in 1990 the company was merged with Redpath Dorman Long which had been acquired by Trafalgar House in 1982 from the Dorman Long group, forming Cleveland Structural Engineering. The company was renamed Kvaerner Cleveland Bridge following the acquisition of Trafalgar House by Kvaerner in 1996, in mid 2000 the company became an independent entity through a £8. 3million management buyout, the management also acquired the companys Dubai subsidiary. In late 2000 the Al Rushaid Group acquired a 50% share of the company, in 2002 the company won a £60 million contract for steelwork for the new Wembley Stadium. The dispute led to delays in the completion of the Wembley project, additionally an industrial dispute between workers transferred from Cleveland Bridge to Hollandia employment on the site led to the sacking of 200 workers, and picketing of the site. Bridges built by the company include, Official site Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company information at Structurae A to Z of bridges built by Cleveland Bridge

23.
River Tees
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The River Tees is in northern England. It rises on the slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines. The river drains 710 square miles and has a number of tributaries including the River Greta, River Lune, River Balder, River Leven, before the reorganisation of the historic English counties, the river formed the boundary between County Durham and Yorkshire. The head of the valley, whose upper portion is known as Teesdale, has a grandeur, surrounded by moorland and hills. This area is part of the North Pennine Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the source of the river at Teeshead just below Cross Fell lies at an elevation of approximately 2,401 feet. It flows east-north-east through an area of shake holes through Carboniferous Limestone, below Viewing Hill, it turns south to the Cow Green Reservoir constructed to store water to be released in dry conditions to satisfy the industrial need for water on Teesside. Emerging from the reservoir at Cauldron Snout the river traverses a series of black basalt and dolerite rocks that intrude through the softer limestone. From this point downstream the Tees forms the boundary between the counties of Durham and Yorkshire almost without a break, although since 1974 much of it lies wholly in Durham. The dale widens below Cauldron Snout, and trees appear, contrasting with the rocks where the water descends over High Force. After a short turn northwards, the continues to meander south-easterly. Close to where the B6277 road begins to run parallel to the river is the 98-foot High Force waterfall, about 1 1⁄2 miles downstream is the smaller Low Force waterfall. The scenery becomes gentler and more picturesque as the river descends past Middleton-in-Teesdale and this locality has lead and ironstone resources. Just to the east of Middleton-in-Teesdale, the River Lune joins the Tees, after passing the village of Romaldkirk to the west, the river is joined by the River Balder at Cotherstone. The ancient town of Barnard Castle, Egglestone Abbey, and Rokeby Park, at Rokeby the Tees is joined by the River Greta. From the area near Eggleston, the river is crossing over millstone grit, from here the valley begins to open out, and traverses the rich plain east and south of Darlington in large meandering curves. The course of the valley down to here has been generally east-south-east, passing Ovington and Winston it runs parallel to the A67 south-east past Gainford and Piercebridge to Darlington, passing under the A1 and A66. The section from Piercebridge to Hurworth flows over magnesian limestone and it is at Croft-on-Tees that the River Skerne joins the Tees. The river now flows south past Croft-on-Tees before swinging northwards past Hurworth-on-Tees, a series of large meanders takes the course past Neasham, Low Dinsdale and Sockburn to Middleton St George

24.
Elizabeth II
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Elizabeth II has been Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand since 6 February 1952. Elizabeth was born in London as the eldest child of the Duke and Duchess of York, later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth and her father acceded to the throne on the abdication of his brother Edward VIII in 1936, from which time she was the heir presumptive. She began to undertake duties during the Second World War. Elizabeths many historic visits and meetings include a visit to the Republic of Ireland. She has seen major changes, such as devolution in the United Kingdom, Canadian patriation. She has reigned through various wars and conflicts involving many of her realms and she is the worlds oldest reigning monarch as well as Britains longest-lived. In October 2016, she became the longest currently reigning monarch, in 2017 she became the first British monarch to commemorate a Sapphire Jubilee. Elizabeth has occasionally faced republican sentiments and press criticism of the family, however, support for the monarchy remains high. Elizabeth was born at 02,40 on 21 April 1926, during the reign of her paternal grandfather and her father, Prince Albert, Duke of York, was the second son of the King. Her mother, Elizabeth, Duchess of York, was the youngest daughter of Scottish aristocrat Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and she was delivered by Caesarean section at her maternal grandfathers London house,17 Bruton Street, Mayfair. Elizabeths only sibling, Princess Margaret, was born in 1930, the two princesses were educated at home under the supervision of their mother and their governess, Marion Crawford, who was casually known as Crawfie. Lessons concentrated on history, language, literature and music, Crawford published a biography of Elizabeth and Margarets childhood years entitled The Little Princesses in 1950, much to the dismay of the royal family. The book describes Elizabeths love of horses and dogs, her orderliness, others echoed such observations, Winston Churchill described Elizabeth when she was two as a character. She has an air of authority and reflectiveness astonishing in an infant and her cousin Margaret Rhodes described her as a jolly little girl, but fundamentally sensible and well-behaved. During her grandfathers reign, Elizabeth was third in the line of succession to the throne, behind her uncle Edward, Prince of Wales, and her father, the Duke of York. Although her birth generated public interest, she was not expected to become queen, many people believed that he would marry and have children of his own. When her grandfather died in 1936 and her uncle succeeded as Edward VIII, she became second-in-line to the throne, later that year, Edward abdicated, after his proposed marriage to divorced socialite Wallis Simpson provoked a constitutional crisis. Consequently, Elizabeths father became king, and she became heir presumptive, if her parents had had a later son, she would have lost her position as first-in-line, as her brother would have been heir apparent and above her in the line of succession

25.
Circular segment
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In geometry, a circular segment is a region of a circle which is cut off from the rest of the circle by a secant or a chord. More formally, a segment is a region of two-dimensional space that is bounded by an arc of a circle. The angle thus inscribed is θ/2 and is part of a triangle whose hypotenuse is the diameter. This is also useful in deriving some of the forms below. The area formula can be used in calculating the volume of a cylindrical tank. In the design of windows or doors with rounded tops, c and h may be the known values. Spherical segment Conic section Cross section Weisstein, Eric W. Circular segment, definition of a circular segment With interactive animation Formulae for area of a circular segment With interactive animation

26.
Tonne
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The SI symbol for the tonne is t, adopted at the same time as the unit itself in 1879. Its use is also official, for the metric ton, within the United States, having been adopted by the US National Institute of Standards and it is a symbol, not an abbreviation, and should not be followed by a period. Informal and non-approved symbols or abbreviations include T, mT, MT, in French and all English-speaking countries that are predominantly metric, tonne is the correct spelling. Before metrication in the UK the unit used for most purposes was the Imperial ton of 2,240 pounds avoirdupois, equivalent to 1,016 kg, differing by just 1. 6% from the tonne. Ton and tonne are both derived from a Germanic word in use in the North Sea area since the Middle Ages to designate a large cask. A full tun, standing about a high, could easily weigh a tonne. An English tun of wine weighs roughly a tonne,954 kg if full of water, in the United States, the unit was originally referred to using the French words millier or tonneau, but these terms are now obsolete. The Imperial and US customary units comparable to the tonne are both spelled ton in English, though they differ in mass, one tonne is equivalent to, Metric/SI,1 megagram. Equal to 1000000 grams or 1000 kilograms, megagram, Mg, is the official SI unit. Mg is distinct from mg, milligram, pounds, Exactly 1000/0. 453 592 37 lb, or approximately 2204.622622 lb. US/Short tons, Exactly 1/0. 907 184 74 short tons, or approximately 1.102311311 ST. One short ton is exactly 0.90718474 t, imperial/Long tons, Exactly 1/1. 016 046 9088 long tons, or approximately 0.9842065276 LT. One long ton is exactly 1.0160469088 t, for multiples of the tonne, it is more usual to speak of thousands or millions of tonnes. Kilotonne, megatonne, and gigatonne are more used for the energy of nuclear explosions and other events. When used in context, there is little need to distinguish between metric and other tons, and the unit is spelt either as ton or tonne with the relevant prefix attached. *The equivalent units columns use the short scale large-number naming system used in most English-language countries. †Values in the equivalent short and long tons columns are rounded to five significant figures, ǂThough non-standard, the symbol kt is also sometimes used for knot, a unit of speed for sea-going vessels, and should not be confused with kilotonne. A metric ton unit can mean 10 kilograms within metal trading and it traditionally referred to a metric ton of ore containing 1% of metal. In the case of uranium, the acronym MTU is sometimes considered to be metric ton of uranium, in the petroleum industry the tonne of oil equivalent is a unit of energy, the amount of energy released by burning one tonne of crude oil, approximately 42 GJ

27.
Tidal limit
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Head of tide or tidal limit is the farthest point upstream where a river is affected by tidal fluctuations, or where the fluctuations are less than a certain amount. This applies to rivers which flow into tidal bodies such as oceans, bays, though this point may vary due to storms, spring tides, and seasonal or annual differences in water flows, there is generally an average point which is accepted as the head of tide. A rivers tidal data are recorded at various locations downstream of this point, a rivers head of tide may be considered the upper boundary of its estuary. The head of tide is important in surveying, navigation, and fisheries management, as the head of tide is useful for navigation, separate maps can be made of the tidal zones up to the head of tide, such as was done in New Jersey. The head of tide may be many miles upstream from the rivers mouth, for example, on the Hudson River, it is located 140 miles upstream, near Albany, New York. On the Saint Lawrence River, tides affect shipping upstream past Quebec City, which is located several hundred miles inland from the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, tidal bore tidal river The Tideway

28.
Teddington Lock
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Teddington Lock is a complex of three locks and a weir on the River Thames in England at Ham in south west London. The lock is on the side of the river. The river downstream of the lock, known as the Tideway, is tidal, though Teddington marks the tidal limit, in periods of very high fluvial flow the tidal influence can be seen as far upstream as East Molesey, location of the second lock on the Thames. The Teddington lock complex consists of three locks, a launch lock, a very large barge lock and a small skiff lock. The barge lock has a set of gates in the middle so it can operate in two sizes. The large bow shaped weir stretches across to Teddington from an island upstream of the lock which also acts as the point for the two bridges making up Teddington Lock Footbridge. Stephen Leach took over the post of Clerk of Works for the First District in 1802, just before his retirement, Truss has proposed locks at Molesey and Teddington, each having a weir with long tumbling bays, similar to modern practice. John Rennie had suggested a series of cuts in 1794. Rennie and William Jessop again proposed four long cuts in 1805, each about 1.5 miles long, zacchary Allnutt, by then Surveyor for the Second and Third Districts, stretching from Staines to Mapledurham, suggested locks at Chertsey, Sunbury and Teddington in 1805. Rennie submitted new proposals in 1809, with nine locks between Staines and Twickenham, two would be without weirs, while the other seven would require large weirs to be built in the river. An Act of Parliament was obtained by the City of London Corporation in June 1810, each would be 150 by 20 feet with the associated weir having ample capacity for flood conditions. Rennie, Leach and the Navigation Committee visited the sites in July, Leach then took charge of the work, which was undertaken by contractors Joseph Kimber and John Dows who also built Sunbury Lock. Work at Teddington started in September 1810, but there were delays caused by flooding in November and December, the lock was finished and opened in June 1811, but the weir was incomplete. The lock was further upstream than the present lock complex at the point where the footbridge now crosses and it comprised three pairs of gates as stipulated in the act. Total cost for lock, cut, weir, ballast and ground was £22,035 10s, 7 1⁄2d. of which the land from Lord Dysarts estate cost £282 10s. The lock was, at first, highly unpopular with the fishermen and bargemen. After attempts to smash it, the keeper was granted permission to keep a blunderbuss with bayonet attached thereto to ward off attacks on the lock. By 1827 the timber lock needed considerable repair and in 1829 the weir was destroyed by an accumulation of ice and it is noted that in 1843 the lock-keeper prevented a steam vessel from coming through the lock

29.
Normal Tidal Limit
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Head of tide or tidal limit is the farthest point upstream where a river is affected by tidal fluctuations, or where the fluctuations are less than a certain amount. This applies to rivers which flow into tidal bodies such as oceans, bays, though this point may vary due to storms, spring tides, and seasonal or annual differences in water flows, there is generally an average point which is accepted as the head of tide. A rivers tidal data are recorded at various locations downstream of this point, a rivers head of tide may be considered the upper boundary of its estuary. The head of tide is important in surveying, navigation, and fisheries management, as the head of tide is useful for navigation, separate maps can be made of the tidal zones up to the head of tide, such as was done in New Jersey. The head of tide may be many miles upstream from the rivers mouth, for example, on the Hudson River, it is located 140 miles upstream, near Albany, New York. On the Saint Lawrence River, tides affect shipping upstream past Quebec City, which is located several hundred miles inland from the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, tidal bore tidal river The Tideway

30.
East Molesey
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Molesey /ˈmoʊl. ziː/ is a suburban district comprising two large villages, East Molesey and West Molesey, just outside the edge of Greater London. Molesey lies between 11.7 and 13.5 miles from Charing Cross and forms part of the contiguous suburbs within the Greater London Urban Area. It has the London dialling code, and was from 1839 until 2000 under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Police, Molesey Hurst or Hurst Park is a large park by the River Thames in the north of the area, and is home to East Molesey Cricket Club. The Hampton Ferry runs from here to Hampton on the Middlesex bank, Molesey is divided into three wards of the United Kingdom, Molesey South, East and North. The majority of Moleseys detached properties are in the east, which contains the highest proportion of apartments of the three wards. The earliest documentary evidence of a settlement in Molesey appears in a 7th-century charter and he secured from Frithwald, sub-king of Surrey, a charter endowing the abbey with much of the surrounding land, including Muleseg. Etymologists suggest that the name is derived from the personal name Mul compounded with the Old English word eg. Therefore, Molesey is not, as believed, named after the River Mole that runs through it. The prefixes East and West did not appear until about the year 1200, Molesey lay within the Saxon administrative district of Elmbridge hundred. East Molesey appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Molesham and it was held partly by John from Richard Fitz Gilbert and partly by Roger dAbernon. Its Domesday assets were,2 hides and 3 virgates and it had 7 ploughs,2 oxen, and 32 acres of meadow and woodland worth 10 hogs. West Molesey was held by Odard Balistarius and its Domesday assets were,1 hide,1 church, and 5 ploughs. Along with neighbouring Thames Ditton, East Molesey formed a part of the ancient parish of Kingston upon Thames, in 1974, the district eventually merged with its neighbour to the west, Walton and Weybridge Urban District, to form the new borough of Elmbridge within Surrey. Molesey was one of the villages and towns along the Thames valley affected by flooding in 1968. Some barriers and overflow fields have been created since then by the Environment Agency, Molesey is directly south of the River Thames, with several large reservoirs bordering the town to the west and south that provide water within the London Basin. Some of these are now disused and are being converted into nature reserves, to the west lie Bessborough Reservoir and Knight Reservoir, to the north-west Molesey Reservoirs, to the south Island Barn Reservoir, and to the south-west Queen Elizabeth II Reservoir. There are walks beside Metropolitan green belt fields to the south along the river Mole to Esher, Hampton Court Palace is immediately north-east of East Molesey across Hampton Court Bridge. The Palace, together with the part of Bushy Park

31.
North Sea flood of 2007
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Cyclone Tilo was preceded by the extratropical remains of ex-Hurricane Noel on 7 November, which paved the way for the stronger upstream storm Tilo. The jet stream was diverted to the north by a ridge of high pressure to the west of Ireland in the Atlantic Ocean forcing the jet stream over the north of Greenland. In combination with a tide, the tidal level was expected to exceed 3 metres above normal sea levels. The flood and waves were expected to overwhelm sea defences and cause flooding, in particular. However, in the event, the surge was 20 centimetres less than forecast. However, in the Norfolk village of Walcott, storms breached the sea wall, also, the water level came to just 10 cm below the top of the sea wall surrounding Great Yarmouth. Flood warnings were issued for the east coast of Britain and the entire Dutch coast, the Maeslantkering in the port city of Rotterdam was closed for the first time since its construction in 1997. Denmark and Germany issued severe gale warnings for winds gusts up to 125 km/h, oil platforms off the coast of Norway were also closed for the duration of the storm. Felixstowe docks were closed and trains services were suspended between Lowestoft and Norwich due to flooding of the line, in Scotland all schools in Orkney were closed with some closures also in Caithness and Sutherland. Wind gusts as high as 100 miles per hour were reported, the Northlink ferry company cancelled sailings between the Northern Isles. Caledonian MacBrayne also cancelled a dozen routes to the Western Isles,4000 homes lost power in Grampian, there were also reports of trees and roofs being blown down. A rescue tug was called on to stand by a 240-foot cargo ship struggling in the sea off Shetland, the A90 road was closed between Aberdeen and Peterhead after a lorry was blown over. A double-decker bus was blown off the road near Mintlaw in Aberdeenshire, there were also reports of a roof blown off in Fraserburgh. North Norfolk District Council were left seeking to apply for compensation from the governments Bellwin scheme for natural disasters, replacing damaged promenade handrails was estimated to cost £20,000, while council-owned beach chalets were estimated to cost more than £40,000 to mend. Inspections were also undertaken of the steel under Cromer pier, where waves had damaged the floor of the Pavilion Theatre, national Oceanography Centre movie model of surge Parker and Foden High-resolution Measurement of a North Sea Storm Surge. Storm Surge, Seaham, County Durham, YouTube

32.
Marchioness disaster
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The Marchioness disaster was a fatal collision between two vessels on the Thames in London on 20 August 1989, which resulted in the drowning of 51 people. The pleasure boat Marchioness sank after being pushed under by the dredger Bowbelle, a formal inquiry blamed poor lookouts on both vessels, and inadequate instruction of both crews. Four new lifeboat stations were installed on the river. The Marchioness was a steamer built in 1923 and was one of the little ships of Dunkirk in 1940. On 19 August 1989, the boat was hired for a party organised by photographer agent Jonathan Phang to celebrate the 26th birthday of Antonio de Vasconcellos, the pair were good friends and business partners in a photographic agency. Of Portuguese family background, Vasconcellos had studied Economics at Cambridge University, Phang organised a three-part celebration, an eight-person dinner in a flat on Meard Street, a birthday cake and champagne celebration for a group of 30 at the flat, and the party on the Marchioness. Many of those at the party were also in their twenties, some were former student friends, the Marchioness collided with the dredger Bowbelle in the early hours of 20 August 1989. In the initial instant of collision the anchor of the cut through the side of the Marchioness. As the Marchioness capsized, her entire superstructure became detached, the formal investigation put the time elapsed, from the instant of collision at 1,46 a. m. to complete immersion, at close to 30 seconds. Witnesses quoted in that investigation described the Bowbelle as hitting it in about its centre then it, of the dead,24 were recovered from the sunken hull. Most of the survivors were on the decks at the time of the collision. In 1991, the skipper of the Bowbelle, Douglas Henderson, was tried for failing to keep a proper look-out but, a Coroners inquest on 7 April 1995 found the victims had been unlawfully killed. Lord Clarkes report blamed poor lookouts on both vessels for the collision and criticised the owners and managers of both vessels for failing to instruct and monitor their crews in proper fashion. Also in 2001, the Royal Humane Society made 19 bravery awards to people involved in rescues at the Marchioness sinking, consequently, on 2 January 2002, the RNLI set up four lifeboat stations, at Gravesend, Tower Pier, Chiswick Pier and Teddington. Seven years after the disaster, the Bowbelle was also lost, having been sold to a Madeiran dredging company and renamed Bom Rei, she split in half and sank on 25 March 1996 off the coast of Ponta do Sol, Madeira. The Tubarao Madeira Diving Organisation discovered the six months after it sank. The wreck is still in good condition and offers refuge to a range of fish. After only a time, marine plants grew in abundance on the wreck

33.
Dredger
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Dredging is an excavation activity usually carried out underwater, in shallow seas or freshwater areas with the purpose of gathering up bottom sediments and disposing of them at a different location. This technique is used to keep waterways navigable. It is also used as a way to replenish sand on some public beaches, fishing dredges are used as a technique for catching certain species of edible clams and crabs. Capital, dredging carried out to create a new harbor, berth or waterway, preparatory, work and excavation for future bridges, piers or docks/wharves, often connected with foundation work. This is often carried out with a trailing suction hopper dredge, most dredging is for this purpose, and it may also be done to maintain the holding capacity of reservoirs or lakes. Land reclamation, dredging to mine sand, clay or rock from the seabed and this is typically performed by a cutter-suction dredge or trailing suction hopper dredge. The material may also be used for flood or erosion control, beach nourishment, mining sand offshore and placing on a beach to replace sand eroded by storms or wave action. This is done to enhance the recreational and protective function of the beaches and this is typically performed by a cutter-suction dredge or trailing suction hopper dredge. Harvesting materials, dredging sediment for elements like gold, diamonds or other valuable trace substances, seabed mining, a possible future use, recovering natural metal ore nodules from the seas abyssal plains. Construction materials, dredging sand and gravels from offshore licensed areas for use in construction industry, very specialist industry focused in NW Europe using specialized trailing suction hopper dredgers self discharging dry cargo ashore. Anti-eutrophication, Dredging is an option for the remediation of eutrophied water bodies. Contaminant remediation, to areas affected by chemical spills, storm water surges. Disposal becomes a large factor in these operations. Removing trash and debris, often done in combination with maintenance dredging, flood prevention, this can help to increase channel depth and therefore increase a channels capacity for carrying water. This tradition has now more or less obsolete and the tools used to do this have also changed significantly. Oyster dredging or harvesting, in Louisiana and other states with salt water estuaries that can sustain bottom oyster beds. A heavy metal rectangular scoop device is towed astern of a boat with a chain bridle attached to a cable. The device is periodically hauled aboard and the oysters in it are sorted and bagged for shipment to a processing facility

34.
Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant
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The Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant was a parade on 3 June 2012 of 670 boats on the Tideway of the River Thames in London as part of the celebrations of the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II. The Queen, Prince Philip and other members of the Royal Family were aboard vessels that took part in the parade, the parade was organised by the Thames Diamond Jubilee Foundation, and funded by private donations and sponsorship. The pageant master was Adrian Evans, the vessels that took part included military, commercial, and pleasure craft. According to Guinness World Records, this was the largest ever parade of boats, surpassing the record of 327 vessels set in Bremerhaven, Germany. Sailing vessels and others too tall to pass under the bridges were moored as an Avenue of Sail downstream of London Bridge with smaller craft in St Katherine Docks, British media organisations estimated that one million spectators watched from the banks of the Thames. The pageant was broadcast live by the BBC and Sky News, more than 10 million tuned into the BBCs four-and-a-half-hour coverage, with an audience average of 10.3 million. The organisers of the pageant were the Thames Diamond Jubilee Foundation, chaired by Lord Salisbury, with Michael Lockett as the Chief Executive of the Pageant and Pageant Master, Adrian Evans. Other bodies involved in the organisation included the Port of London Authority, the RNLI, the Metropolitan Police, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the pageant was planned with inspiration from a painting by the 18th-century Venetian painter, Canaletto. The painting Lord Mayors Day on the Thames depicts a flotilla against a background of London, the painting was loaned for an exhibition at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich from the Lobkowicz Collections, Prague. The pageant took a route from Wandsworth to Tower Bridge, the Thames was closed to normal navigation. The flotilla proceeded in sections preceded by Music Herald Barges, The Royal Jubilee Bells Man-powered boats Academy of Ancient Music The Royal Squadron, the royal barge was further decorated for the occasion with thousands of flowers and plants, and hung with drapery with the arms of Commonwealth countries. The Queen was attended by Lady Susan Hussey, her lady-in-waiting for more than 50 years, her deputy secretary, Edward Young, her equerry, Lieutenant Colonel Dan Rex. The Queen wore an ensemble designed by royal couturier Angela Kelly, comprising dress, coat, hat, the coat, which had a pleated frill at the front and neck, was of ivory boucle, decorated with gold, silver and ivory paillettes and Swarovski crystals. The matching hat had a cockade of feathers in gold, silver and ivory. Her jewels were the diamond starburst Jardine brooch, a pearl necklace. The Duchess of Cornwall wore an ensemble with sleeves decorated with gold paillettes, by Anna Valentine. Her jewellery was a pearl and diamond choker. She wore a brooch with two dolphins, a gift of the Royal Submarines, the Countess of Wessex wore a printed dress by Emilia Wickstead

35.
Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II
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The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II was a multinational celebration throughout 2012, that marked the 60th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952. Queen Elizabeth is queen regnant of 16 sovereign states, known as Commonwealth realms, the only other time in British history that a monarch celebrated a Diamond Jubilee was in 1897, when Queen Victoria celebrated hers. Commemorative events were held throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, unlike the Queens Silver and Golden Jubilees, when the Queen toured most of her realms around the world, Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, toured only the United Kingdom. Other parts of the Commonwealth were toured by her children and grandchildren as her representatives, the Canadian government announced in April that former prime minister Jean Chrétien would be Canadas representative to the organisation. The Queen attended the final night, on 18 May, the Queen hosted an informal lunch at Windsor Castle for more than twenty current or former monarchs from other countries. In the evening of the day, the Prince of Wales. Criticism was directed at the presence of the King of Bahrain at the lunch, in London, protesters against the King assembled outside Buckingham Palace during the dinner, although he did not attend that event. Google displayed a Google Doodle for the Diamond Jubilee on 2 June, featuring the Queens profile, corgis, heavy rain started during the event and the commemorative airforce flyover at the end was cancelled due to very low cloud base and bad visibility at ground level. Along with almost all members of the Royal Family, various governors-general from the Commonwealth realms other than the UK were in attendance, Pauls Cathedral, also attended by 2,000 other guests. Will Todd’s anthem The Call of Wisdom, commissioned specially for this event, was performed by the Diamond Choir, another reception was held at Londons Guildhall and a luncheon took place at Lancaster House, hosted by the British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. A reception solely for governors-general was held by the Queen at Buckingham Palace, the lighting of thousands of beacons across the Commonwealth took place on 4 June. The number of beacons was originally set at 2,012, by the date for registrations. The first beacon of the Jubilee was lit on the grounds of Apifoou College in Nukuʻalofa, Tonga, by Tongan girl and Boy Scouts using coconut sheath torches. Other nations, including Kenya, Australia, New Zealand, India, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, the worlds most remote beacon was lit in Tristan da Cunha in the south Atlantic, using invasive, non-native plants to fuel the fire. In the United Kingdom, British servicemen and women wounded in battle, one beacon was lit at Treetops Hotel in Aberdare National Park in Kenya, where the Queen was at the moment of her accession to the throne. The Queen lit the beacon outside Buckingham Palace at 10,30 pm, by inserting a large, specially made, the lighting proceeded until the final beacon was lit in Canada eight hours later. The Queens husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was hospitalised with an infection on 4 June. Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, stated after visiting his father that the latter was watching the celebrations on television, the Queen visited the Duke the following day

36.
Thames Water
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Thames Water is the UKs largest water and wastewater services company, and supplies 2.6 billion litres of drinking water per day, and treats 4.4 billion litres of wastewater per day. Thames Waters 15 million customers comprise 27% of the UK population, other large shareholders in recent years include, BT Pension Scheme, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and the China Investment Corporation. The name of the company reflects its role providing water to the basin of the River Thames and not the source of its water. In March 2017 a judge imposed a fine of £20. 3m on Thames Water after large leaks of untreated sewage, totalling 1. 4bn litres. Thames Water can trace its history back to earlier companies. During the 1850s, Dr John Snow and William Farrs identification of the 1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak provided a stimulus to the treatment of sewage. The Thames Conservancy was established in 1857 with unified control over supply, drainage. The Great Stink occurred in 1858, and focussed government and public opinion on cleaning up the Thames, joseph Bazalgettes remediation of The Great Stink provided the company with much of Londons present Victorian sewerage infrastructure and several listed buildings within its portfolio of sites. The remainder of Thames Water Authority was privatised as Thames Water Utilities Limited, the company became listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE100 Index. Following international expansion, Thames Water became the third largest water company in 1995. Thames Water plc was acquired by the German utility company RWE in 2001, as well as its British operations, it continued as an international water treatment consultancy and acquired further overseas operations. In December 2006, the sale of Thames Waters British operation went ahead, under the new ownership, the company re-focused its efforts on improving its operational performance and in 2007 announced the largest-ever capital investment programme of any UK water company. On 14 March 2017, Macquarie Group sold its stake in Thames Waters holding company to OMERS. As of 2014, Thames Water provides the second cheapest residential water and sewerage charges of all the combined Water, since 2007, it has made capital investments at least £1 billion a year in its infrastructure – the largest such annual investment within the UK water industry. In 2015–2016, this figure was £1.2 billion and this level of investment has allowed the company to defer, but not avoid, substantial portions of its corporation tax liability in line with UK tax law. Every day, Thames Water abstracts / extracts, treats and supplies 2 and it maintains 30 raw water reservoirs and 235 underground service reservoirs. As well as customers, Thames Water supplies bulk clean water to some inset companies. Other inset companies maintain their own independent means of supply, likewise, it daily removes, treats and disposes 4

37.
Sea level rise
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Sea level rise refers to an increase in the volume of water in the world’s oceans, resulting in an increase in global mean sea level. Sea level rise is attributed to global climate change by thermal expansion of the water in the oceans and by melting of Ice sheets. Melting of floating ice shelves or icebergs at sea raises sea levels only slightly, Sea level rise at specific locations may be more or less than the global average. Local factors might include tectonic effects, subsidence of the land, tides, currents, storms, Sea level rise is expected to continue for centuries. IPCC Summary for Policymakers, AR5,2014, indicated that the mean sea level rise will continue during the 21st century, very likely at a faster rate than observed from 1971 to 2010. A January 2017 NOAA report suggests a range of GMSL rise of 0.3 –2.5 m possible during the 21st century, Sea level rises can considerably influence human populations in coastal and island regions and natural environments like marine ecosystems. On the timescale of centuries to millennia, the melting of ice sheets could result in even higher sea level rise, partial deglaciation of the Greenland ice sheet, and possibly the West Antarctic ice sheet, could contribute 4 to 6 m or more to sea level rise. Various factors affect the volume or mass of the ocean, leading to changes in eustatic sea level. The two primary influences are temperature, and the mass of water locked up on land and sea as water in rivers, lakes, glaciers. Over much longer timescales, changes in the shape of oceanic basins. Since the Last Glacial Maximum about 20,000 years ago, sea level has risen by more than 125 m, with rates varying from tenths of a mm/yr to 10+mm/year, as a result of melting of major ice sheets. During the rest of the early Holocene, the rate of sea level rise varied from a low of about 6.0 -9.9 mm/yr to as high as 30 -60 mm/yr during brief periods of accelerated sea level rise. In sharp contrast, the period between 14,300 and 11,100 calendar years ago, which includes the Younger Dryas interval, was an interval of reduced sea level rise at about 6.0 -9.9 mm/yr. Meltwater pulse 1C was centered at 8,000 calendar years, such rapid rates of sea level rising during meltwater events clearly implicate major ice-loss events related to ice sheet collapse. The primary source may have been meltwater from the Antarctic ice sheet, other studies suggest a Northern Hemisphere source for the meltwater in the Laurentide ice sheet. For example, this research included studies of Roman wells in Caesarea and these methods in combination suggest a mean eustatic component of 0.07 mm/yr for the last 2000 years. Since 1880, as the Industrial Revolution took center stage, the ocean began to rise briskly, climbing a total of 210 mm through 2009 causing extensive erosion worldwide, Sea level rose by 6 cm during the 19th century and 19 cm in the 20th century. Evidence for this includes geological observations, the longest instrumental records, for example, geological observations indicate that during the last 2,000 years, sea level change was small, with an average rate of only 0. 0–0.2 mm per year

38.
Sheerness
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Sheerness /ʃɪərˈnɛs/ is a town located beside the mouth of the River Medway on the north-west corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 12,000 it is the largest town on the island, Sheerness began as a fort built in the 16th century to protect the River Medway from naval invasion. In 1665, plans were first laid by the Navy Board for Sheerness Dockyard, the site was favoured by Samuel Pepys, then Clerk of the Acts of the navy, for shipbuilding over Chatham. Beginning with the construction of a pier and a promenade in the 19th century, industry retains its important place in the town and the Port of Sheerness is one of the United Kingdoms leading car and fresh produce importers. The town is the site of one of the UKs first co-operative societies, the first structure in what is now Sheerness was a fort built by order of Henry VIII to prevent enemy ships from entering the River Medway and attacking the naval dockyard at Chatham. In 1666 work began to replace it with a stronger fort, however, before its completion, this second fort was destroyed during the 1667 Dutch raid on the Medway. The Secretary of the Admiralty, Samuel Pepys, subsequently ordered the construction of Sheerness Dockyard as an extension to that at Chatham, by 1801 the population of the Minster-in-Sheppey parish, which included both Sheerness and the neighbouring town of Minster, reached 5,561. In 1816, one of the UKs first co-operative societies was started in Sheerness, chiefly to serve the dockyard workers, the Sheerness Economical Society began as a co-operative bakery but expanded to produce and sell a range of goods. By the middle of the 20th century, the society had spread across the Isle of Sheppey and had renamed the Sheerness. In 1863, mains water was installed in the town, towards the end of the 19th century, Sheerness achieved official town status and formed its own civil parish, separate from Minster-in-Sheppey. The 1901 Census recorded the Sheerness parish as having 18,179 residents and 2,999 houses, the towns low rainfall and ample sunshine made it popular as a seaside resort, with tourists arriving by steamboat and train. The Sheppey Light Railway opened in 1901, connecting the new Sheerness East station with the rest of the island, however, by 1950, lack of demand led to the railways closure. The Sheerness and District Tramways, which opened in 1903, only lasted until 1917, in 1944 the United States cargo ship SS Richard Montgomery ran aground and sank 1 mile off the coast of Sheerness, with large quantities of explosives on board. Due to the inherent danger and projected expense, the ship and its cargo have never been salvaged, if the wreck were to explode, a 2004 report published in New Scientist warned that an explosion could occur if sea water penetrated the bombs. In March 1960 the Royal Navy ceased operating the Sheerness dockyard, the dockyard closure led to thousands of job losses, and most of the nearby houses and shops in the Bluetown area were eventually abandoned and demolished. By the 1961 census, the population of Sheerness had fallen to 13,691, the dockyard closure also led to the decline of the Sheerness and District Cooperative Society, as many of its members were dockyard workers. At the time, the society was the main retailer. In 2003, the Beachfields Park project was organised to publicise Beachfields heritage, students of Cheyne Middle School and Minster College, with assistance from local organisations, researched the funfair, bandstands, Prisoner of the War hut, boating lake and bowling green

39.
Kent
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Kent /ˈkɛnt/ is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south west, the county also shares borders with Essex via the Dartford Crossing and the French department of Pas-de-Calais through the Channel Tunnel. France can be clearly in fine weather from Folkestone and the White Cliffs of Dover. Hills in the form of the North Downs and the Greensand Ridge span the length of the county, because of its relative abundance of fruit-growing and hop gardens, Kent is known as The Garden of England. The title was defended in 2006 when a survey of counties by the UKTV Style Gardens channel put Kent in fifth place, behind North Yorkshire, Devon. Haulage, logistics, and tourism are industries, major industries in north-west Kent include aggregate building materials, printing. Coal mining has played its part in Kents industrial heritage. Large parts of Kent are within the London commuter belt and its transport connections to the capital. Twenty-eight per cent of the county forms part of two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the North Downs and The High Weald, the area has been occupied since the Palaeolithic era, as attested by finds from the quarries at Swanscombe. The Medway megaliths were built during the Neolithic era, There is a rich sequence of Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Roman era occupation, as indicated by finds and features such as the Ringlemere gold cup and the Roman villas of the Darent valley. The modern name of Kent is derived from the Brythonic word Cantus meaning rim or border and this describes the eastern part of the current county area as a border land or coastal district. Julius Caesar had described the area as Cantium, or home of the Cantiaci in 51 BC, the extreme west of the modern county was by the time of Roman Britain occupied by Iron Age tribes, known as the Regnenses. East Kent became a kingdom of the Jutes during the 5th century and was known as Cantia from about 730, the early medieval inhabitants of the county were known as the Cantwara, or Kent people. These people regarded the city of Canterbury as their capital, in 597, Pope Gregory I appointed the religious missionary as the first Archbishop of Canterbury. In the previous year, Augustine successfully converted the pagan King Æthelberht of Kent to Christianity, the Diocese of Canterbury became Britains first Episcopal See with first cathedral and has since remained Englands centre of Christianity. The second designated English cathedral was in Kent at Rochester Cathedral, in the 11th century, the people of Kent adopted the motto Invicta, meaning undefeated. This naming followed the invasion of Britain by William of Normandy, the Kent peoples continued resistance against the Normans led to Kents designation as a semi-autonomous county palatine in 1067. Under the nominal rule of Williams half-brother Odo of Bayeux, the county was granted powers to those granted in the areas bordering Wales

40.
Southend-on-Sea
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It is bordered to the north by Rochford and to the west by Castle Point. It is home to the longest leisure pier in the world, London Southend Airport is located 1.5 NM north of the town centre. Originally the south end of the village of Prittlewell, Southend was home to a few poor fisherman huts, due to the bad transportation links between Southend and London, there was not rapid development during the Georgian Era like Brighton. It was the coming of the railways in the 19th Century, during the 19th century Southends pier was first constructed and the Clifftown development built, attracting many tourists in the summer months to its seven miles of beaches and bathing in the sea. Good rail connections and proximity to London mean that much of the economy has been based on tourism, Southend Pier is the worlds longest pleasure pier at 1.34 mi. It has suffered fires and ship collisions, most recently in October 2005, as a holiday destination, Southend declined from the 1960s onwards, as holidaying abroad became more affordable. However, about 6.4 million tourists still visit Southend per year, revenue & Customs, are major employers in the town, and the central offices for the collection of VAT are located at Alexander House on Victoria Avenue. An annual seafront airshow, started in 1986 when it featured a flypast by Concorde whilst on a charter flight, used to take place each May. The aircraft flew parallel to the seafront, offset over the sea, the RAF Falcons parachute display team and RAF Red Arrows aerobatics team were regular visitors to the show. The show has not been held since 2012 due to a lack of sponsorship, an attempt to revive the show for September 2015, as the Southend Airshow and Military Festival, failed. Sopot, Poland, has been Southend-on-Seas twin town since October 1999, Southend-on-Sea was formed as a municipal borough in 1892 with the functions of local government shared with Essex County Council. In 1913 the borough was enlarged by the area of Leigh on Sea Urban District. In 1914 the enlarged Southend gained the status of county borough, exempt from county council control, the county borough was enlarged in 1933 by the former area of Shoeburyness Urban District and part of Rochford Rural District. In 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, Southend became a district of Essex with borough status, however, in 1998 it again became the single tier of local government when it became a unitary authority. Seventeen wards each return three councillors, a total of 51, councillors serve four years and one third of the council is elected each year, followed by one year without election. Following the 2016 election results, the composition of the council is and they maintained a minority administration after the 2012 local elections, however the council has been run by a coalition of Lib Dems, Labour and Independents since June 2014. Most day-to-day decisions are by an executive headed by the council leader. The town has been twinned with the resort of Sopot in Poland since 1999 and has been developing three-way associations with Lake Worth, areas of criticism were the use of consultants and the spending of £3.5 million on taxis during the 2006–07 financial year

41.
Essex
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Essex /ˈɛsᵻks/ is a county in England immediately north-east of London. It borders the counties of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, the county town is Chelmsford, which is the only city in the county. Essex occupies the part of the old Kingdom of Essex, before this. As well as areas, the county also includes London Stansted Airport, the new towns of Basildon and Harlow, Lakeside Shopping Centre, the port of Tilbury. Originally recorded in AD527, Essex occupied territory to the north of the River Thames, incorporating all of what later became Middlesex and its territory was later restricted to lands east of the River Lea. In changes before the Norman conquest the East Saxons were subsumed into the Kingdom of England and, following the Norman conquest, Essex became a county. During the medieval period, much of the area was designated a Royal forest, including the county in a period to 1204. Gradually, the subject to forest law diminished, but at various times included the forests of Becontree, Chelmsford, Epping, Hatfield, Ongar. County-wide administration Essex County Council was formed in 1889, however County Boroughs of West Ham, Southend-on-Sea and East Ham formed part of the county but were unitary authorities. 12 boroughs and districts provide more localised services such as rubbish and recycling collections, leisure and planning, parish-level administration – changes A few Essex parishes have been transferred to other counties. Before 1889, small areas were transferred to Hertfordshire near Bishops Stortford, Essex became part of the East of England Government Office Region in 1994 and was statistically counted as part of that region from 1999, having previously been part of the South East England region. Two unitary authorities In 1998 the boroughs of Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock were granted autonomy from the county of Essex after successful requests to become unitary authorities. Essex Police covers the county and the two unitary authorities. The county council chamber and main headquarters is at the County Hall in Chelmsford, before 1938 the council regularly met in London near Moorgate, which with significant parts closer to that point and the dominance of railways had been more convenient than any place in the county. It currently has 75 elected councillors, before 1965, the number of councillors reached over 100. The highest point of the county of Essex is Chrishall Common near the village of Langley, close to the Hertfordshire border, the pattern of settlement in the county is diverse. Epping Forest also acts as a barrier to the further spread of London. Part of the southeast of the county, already containing the population centres of Basildon, Southend and Thurrock, is within the Thames Gateway

42.
East Tilbury
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East Tilbury is a village in the unitary authority of Thurrock borough, Essex, England and one of the traditional parishes in Thurrock. In Saxon times, the location on which the now stands was surrounded by tidal marshland. This is the location for the minster church established by St Cedd at Tilaburg which is mentioned in Bedes History of the English Church. In the 1860s, Coalhouse Fort was constructed on the bank of the Thames, from 1894 to 1936 East Tilbury was part of the Orsett Rural District. The East Tilbury Civil Parish was abolished in 1936 when the became part of Thurrock Urban District. The construction of a Bata Shoes factory in the 1930s resulted in development in East Tilbury. The factory has closed down. The Bata company developed not only a factory, but also a town for workers, built in the modernist style, a sizeable Czech workforce was relocated here, and has merged into the local community after connections were lost with Czechoslovakia after World War II. John Tusas father became manager of the factory, East Tilbury is served by modern infants and junior schools sharing a site opposite the old Bata factory and adjacent to parkland. The junior school recently acquired foundation status, the town is served by East Tilbury railway station on the Tilbury branch of the c2c service from London Fenchurch Street to Southend Central via Ockendon. East Tilbury is also served by the Amber Coaches bus route 374 which operates between Grays bus station and Basildon on Mondays to Saturdays and it is located about 2 miles south of the A13 road from London to Southend. East Tilbury does not have a shopping centre, its nearest major retail centres are located at Basildon. The area forms part of the Thames Gateway redevelopment zone and responsibility for delivery in this area is with the Thurrock Development Corporation. Large sections of Metropolitan Green Belt land have been earmarked for development, it is expected to include 14,000 homes, East Tilbury is one of seven conservation areas in Thurrock. On the northern end of the town is a park called Gobion Park. This got a development grant in 2009 of £50,000, the name may have come from Sir Richard Gobion from UpHavering

43.
Cliffe, Kent
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Cliffe is a village on the Hoo Peninsula in Kent, England, reached from the Medway Towns by a three-mile journey along the B2000 road. Situated upon a low chalk escarpment overlooking the Thames marshes, Cliffe offers views of Southend-on-Sea and it forms part of the parish of Cliffe and Cliffe Woods in the borough of Medway. The population of the village is included in the parish of Cliffe and Cliffe Woods. In 774 Offa, King of Mercia, built a wooden church dedicated to St Helen. Cliffe is cited in early records as having been called Clive, Clovesho, or Clofeshoch, was an ancient Saxon town, in Mercia and near London, where the Anglo-Saxon Church is recorded as holding the important Councils of Clovesho between 742 and 825. These had representation from the archbishopric of Canterbury and the whole English church south of the Humber, the location of Cloveshoo has never been successfully identified, but in the 18th century Cliffe was thought to be one possible location. The Grade I listed St Helens church at Cliffe was built about 1260 and was constructed in the style of alternating layers of Kent ragstone. It is one of the largest parish churches in Kent, and the one dedicated to St Helen. It contains wall paintings of the martyrdom of St. Edmund, a Jacobean pulpit, above the porch is a muniments room containing important historical documents. During the 14th century Cliffe was the site of a farm owned by the monks of Christs Church, Canterbury, Cliffe-at-Hoo was still considered a town in the 16th century, but by the middle of the 19th century the population had slumped to about 900. In 1824, construction of the Thames and Medway Canal was begun, providing work for able-bodied villagers and other labourers who came to the area and he drained such a large area of the marsh and so improved the grazing pastures that he was called King of the Hundreds. Henry Pye was an innovator in farming practices promoting the use of Aveling and Porter steam engines, locally built in Rochester, for use in ploughing and threshing. In 1878, with other farmers Pye met with the South Eastern Railway Company and petitioned for a railway to be built, the first part of the line was opened in March 1882, running from Cliffe to Sharnal Street. The rise of the Kent cement industry brought a new prosperity to the ancient settlement during the Victorian era. Alfred Francis, with his son, established the firm of Francis and Co. at the Nine Elms office at Vauxhall, London, Francis and Co instituted the Nine Elms cement works. These works were built on Cliffe marsh, to the west of the village where the chalk cliffs came almost to within a mile of the River Thames, the area also proved a useful source of clay. The riverside location provided ease of transport and wharves were built at the mouth of Cliffe creek. A canal was constructed from the works, which gave its name to a tavern built nearby, 1870–71 saw further developments to the cement works, which were rebuilt and extended, with an elaborate tramway added

44.
Tidal power
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Tidal power or tidal energy is a form of hydropower that converts the energy obtained from tides into useful forms of power, mainly electricity. Although not yet used, tidal power has potential for future electricity generation. Tides are more predictable than wind energy and solar power, historically, tide mills have been used both in Europe and on the Atlantic coast of North America. The incoming water was contained in large ponds, and as the tide went out. The earliest occurrences date from the Middle Ages, or even from Roman times, the process of using falling water and spinning turbines to create electricity was introduced in the U. S. and Europe in the 19th century. The worlds first large-scale tidal power plant was the Rance Tidal Power Station in France and it was the largest tidal power station in terms of output until Sihwa Lake Tidal Power Station opened in South Korea in August,2011. The Sihwa station uses sea wall defense barriers complete with 10 turbines generating 254 MW, Tidal power is taken from the Earths oceanic tides. Tidal forces are periodic variations in gravitational attraction exerted by celestial bodies and these forces create corresponding motions or currents in the worlds oceans. Due to the attraction to the oceans, a bulge in the water level is created. When the sea level is raised, water from the middle of the ocean is forced to move toward the shorelines and this occurrence takes place in an unfailing manner, due to the consistent pattern of the moon’s orbit around the earth. Tidal power is the technology that draws on energy inherent in the orbital characteristics of the Earth–Moon system. Other natural energies exploited by human technology originate directly or indirectly with the Sun, including fuel, conventional hydroelectric, wind, biofuel, wave. A tidal generator converts the energy of tidal flows into electricity, greater tidal variation and higher tidal current velocities can dramatically increase the potential of a site for tidal electricity generation. This loss of energy has caused the rotation of the Earth to slow in the 4.5 billion years since its formation. During the last 620 million years the period of rotation of the earth has increased from 21.9 hours to 24 hours, while tidal power will take additional energy from the system, the effect is negligible and would only be noticed over millions of years. Some tidal generators can be built into the structures of existing bridges or are entirely submersed, land constrictions such as straits or inlets can create high velocities at specific sites, which can be captured with the use of turbines. These turbines can be horizontal, vertical, open, or ducted, Tidal barrages make use of the potential energy in the difference in height between high and low tides. When using tidal barrages to generate power, the energy from a tide is seized through strategic placement of specialized dams

London
–
London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city

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Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace and Central London skyline

4.
The name London may derive from the River Thames

Costain Group
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Costain Group plc is a British construction and civil engineering company headquartered in Maidenhead. It was part of the original Channel Tunnel consortium and is involved in Private Finance Initiative projects, the business was founded in 1865 when Richard Costain and his future brother-in-law, Richard Kneen, left the Isle of Man and moved to Liv

Tarmac Limited
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Tarmac is a British building materials company headquartered in Solihull, Birmingham. The company was formed as Lafarge Tarmac in March 2013 by the merger of Anglo Americans Tarmac UK, in July 2014, Anglo American agreed to sell its stake to Lafarge, to assist Lafarge in its merger with Holcim and allay competition concerns. Prior to 1999 Tarmac Pl

1.
Tarmac Holdings Limited

Greater London Council
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The Greater London Council was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council which had covered a smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 1986 by the Local Government Act 1985 and its powers were devolved to the London boroughs, a new administrative body, known as

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Greater London Council

2.
Council Chamber of the GLC, from the majority benches

Dam
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A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aquaculture. Hydropower is often used in conjunction with dams to generate electricity, a dam can also be used to collect water or for storage of w

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Glen Canyon Dam

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A sideview of the Lake Vyrnwy dam, in Wales, finished in 1888

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Karapuzha Dam, an earth dam in the Indian state of Kerala

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The Roman dam at Cornalvo in Spain has been in use for almost two millennia

Steel dam
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A steel dam is a type of dam that is made of steel, rather than the more common masonry, earthworks, concrete or timber construction materials. Relatively few examples were ever built, the third, the Hauser Lake Dam in Montana, was finished in 1907 but failed in 1908. Steel dams were found uneconomical after the World War I as the steel prices rais

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Redridge Steel Dam (upstream side) with a low water level

Thalweg
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In geography and fluvial geomorphology, a thalweg or talweg is the line of lowest elevation within a valley or watercourse. Under international law, thalwegs can acquire special significance because disputed river borders are often deemed to run along the rivers thalweg, the word thalweg is of 19th-century German origin. The German word Thalweg is

1.
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2008)

Meter
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The metre or meter, is the base unit of length in the International System of Units. The metre is defined as the length of the path travelled by light in a vacuum in 1/299792458 seconds, the metre was originally defined in 1793 as one ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the North Pole. In 1799, it was redefined in terms of a metre bar

4.
Closeup of National Prototype Metre Bar No. 27, made in 1889 by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) and given to the United States, which served as the standard for defining all units of length in the US from 1893 to 1960

Environment Agency
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The Environment Agencys stated purpose is, to protect or enhance the environment, taken as a whole so as to promote the objective of achieving sustainable development. Protection of the environment relates to such as flood and pollution. The vision of the Agency is of a rich, healthy and diverse environment for present and it is organised into eigh

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The Thames Barrier is one of the flood risk management installations operated by the Environment Agency

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A remote controlled ARC-Boat that is used to collect river and estuarine data, assisting in flood forecasting

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The Environment Agency operates numerous locks, such as this one at Godstow, Oxfordshire

Floodplain
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In other words, a floodplain is an area near a river or a stream which floods when the water level reaches flood stage. Flood plains are made by a meander eroding sideways as it travels downstream, when a river breaks its banks and floods, it leaves behind layers of alluvium. These gradually build up to create the floor of the flood plain, floodpla

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Paraná River Floodplain, at its confluence as his right headstream Paranaíba with the Verde River near Panorama, Brazil. Astronaut photo, 2012.

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View of the flood plain following a 1 in 10 year flood on the Isle of Wight

3.
Gravel floodplain of a glacial river near the Snow Mountains in Alaska, 1902

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Entrenched river: The Virgin River at the upper end of Zion Canyon, Zion National Park, Utah, has almost no floodplain at all.

Greater London
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London, or Greater London, is a region of England which forms the administrative boundaries of London. It is organised into 33 local government districts, the 32 London boroughs, the Greater London Authority, based in Southwark, is responsible for strategic local government across the region and consists of the Mayor of London and the London Assemb

1.
London

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Greater London shown within England

3.
The Greater London Authority is based in City Hall

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High resolution view from the top of Tolworth Tower in South West London over the sprawling suburban housing that is typical in some areas of Greater London

Tide
–
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon and the Sun and the rotation of the Earth. Some shorelines experience a semi-diurnal tide—two nearly equal high and low tides each day, other locations experience a diurnal tide—only one high and low tide each day. A mixed tide—t

1.
High tide, Alma, New Brunswick in the Bay of Fundy, 1972

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Low tide at the same fishing port in Bay of Fundy, 1972

3.
In Maine (U.S.) low tide occurs roughly at moonrise and high tide with a high moon, corresponding to the simple gravity model of two tidal bulges; at most places however, moon and tides have a phase shift.

Storm surge
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Most casualties during tropical cyclones occur as the result of storm surges. The deadliest storm surge on record was the 1970 Bhola cyclone, the low-lying coast of the Bay of Bengal is particularly vulnerable to surges caused by tropical cyclones. The deadliest storm surge in the twenty-first century was caused by the Cyclone Nargis, the next dead

2.
Extratropical storm surge model (ETSSM) showing negative water levels, developed bt the National Weather Service. Similar to the SLOSH model, the ETSSM runs off the GFS computer model, and can provide guidance on above or below average water levels in a certain geographical domain as the result of a storm system's influence.

North Sea
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The North Sea is a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean located between Great Britain, Scandinavia, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the ocean through the English Channel in the south and it is more than 970 kilometres long and 580 kilometres wide, with an area of around 5

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North Sea

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The German North Sea coast

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The Afsluitdijk (Closure-dike) is a major dam in the Netherlands

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Zuid-Beveland, North Sea flood of 1953

Isle of Dogs
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The Isle of Dogs is an area in the East End of London that is bounded on three sides by one of the largest meanders in the River Thames. The soil is alluvial and silty in nature, underlaid by clay or mud, the first known written mention of the Isle of Dogs is in the ‘Letters & Papers of Henry VIII’. Some say it is a corruption of the Isle of Ducks,

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Isle of Dogs as shown in John Rocque 's map of London, 1747 showing the area before development

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Aerial view the Isle of Dogs in 2015. The O2 Arena can be seen on the Greenwich Peninsula to the right (east) of the Isle of Dogs.

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1899 The Isle of Dogs, at the height of its commercial success

Silvertown
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It was named after Samuel Winkworth Silvers former rubber factory which opened in 1852, and is now dominated by the Tate & Lyle sugar refinery and the John Knight ABP animal rendering plant. In 1852 S. W. Silver and Co moved to the area from Greenwich and established a rubber works and this subsequently developed into the works of the India Rubber,

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Tate & Lyle Silvertown sugar refinery

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Construction in Silvertown (view from Shooter's Hill)

London Borough of Newham
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It is 5 miles east of the City of London, north of the River Thames. Newham was one of the six host boroughs for the 2012 Summer Olympics, the local authority is Newham London Borough Council. The boroughs motto, from its Coat of Arms, is Progress with the People, the Coat of Arms was derived from that of the County Borough of West Ham, while the m

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Coat of arms

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Newham shown within Greater London

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Newham Town Hall in East Ham (E6)

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Green Street where the population is predominantly South Asian

Royal Borough of Greenwich
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The Royal Borough of Greenwich is a London borough in south-east London, England. The local council is Greenwich London Borough Council which meets in Woolwich Town Hall, the councils offices are also based in Woolwich, the main urban centre in the borough. Greenwich is world-famous as the location of the Prime Meridian. The Prime Meridian running

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Greenwich and Observatory

Hermann Bondi
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Sir Hermann Bondi KCB FRS was an Anglo-Austrian mathematician and cosmologist. He is best known for developing the Steady State theory of the universe with Fred Hoyle and he contributed to the theory of general relativity. Bondi was born in Vienna, the son of a medical doctor and he was brought up in Vienna, where he studied at the Realgymnasium. H

1.
Sir Hermann Bondi

North Sea flood of 1953
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The 1953 North Sea flood was a major flood caused by a heavy storm that occurred on the night of Saturday,31 January 1953 and morning of Sunday,1 February 1953. The floods struck the Netherlands, Belgium, England and Scotland, the flood and waves overwhelmed sea defences and caused extensive flooding. Most of the casualties occurred in the province

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Aftermath of the flood in Oude-Tonge, Goeree-Overflakkee, Netherlands

Tarmac Group
–
Tarmac Group Limited was a multinational building materials company headquartered in Wolverhampton, United Kingdom. It produced road surfacing and heavy building materials including aggregates, concrete, cement and lime, as well as operating as a road construction, the company was founded in 1903 by Edgar Purnell Hooley after he patented the road s

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The Tarmac logo in use from 1964 to 1996

Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company
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Cleveland Bridge UK Ltd is a renowned bridge building and structural engineering company based in Darlington, England. It has been involved in major projects including the Victoria Falls Bridge, Sydney Harbour Bridge. Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company was founded in 1877 as a fabrication business, in 1967 the company was acquired by The Cement

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Victoria Falls Bridge

River Tees
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The River Tees is in northern England. It rises on the slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines. The river drains 710 square miles and has a number of tributaries including the River Greta, River Lune, River Balder, River Leven, before the reorganisation of the historic English counties, the river formed the boundary between County Durham and York

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High Force on the River Tees

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The confluence of the River Greta and the River Tees

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The River Tees (Portrack Cut) passing through the Green-Blue Heart of the Tees Corridor between Middlesbrough and Stockton District.

Elizabeth II
–
Elizabeth II has been Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand since 6 February 1952. Elizabeth was born in London as the eldest child of the Duke and Duchess of York, later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth and her father acceded to the throne on the abdication of his brother Edward VIII in 1936, from which time she was the

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The Queen in March 2015

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Princess Elizabeth aged 3, April 1929

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Princess Elizabeth aged 7, painted by Philip de László, 1933

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Elizabeth in Auxiliary Territorial Service uniform, April 1945

Circular segment
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In geometry, a circular segment is a region of a circle which is cut off from the rest of the circle by a secant or a chord. More formally, a segment is a region of two-dimensional space that is bounded by an arc of a circle. The angle thus inscribed is θ/2 and is part of a triangle whose hypotenuse is the diameter. This is also useful in deriving

1.
A circular segment (in green) is enclosed between a secant/chord (the dashed line) and the arc whose endpoints equal the chord's (the arc shown above the green area).

Tonne
–
The SI symbol for the tonne is t, adopted at the same time as the unit itself in 1879. Its use is also official, for the metric ton, within the United States, having been adopted by the US National Institute of Standards and it is a symbol, not an abbreviation, and should not be followed by a period. Informal and non-approved symbols or abbreviatio

1.
Base units

Tidal limit
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Head of tide or tidal limit is the farthest point upstream where a river is affected by tidal fluctuations, or where the fluctuations are less than a certain amount. This applies to rivers which flow into tidal bodies such as oceans, bays, though this point may vary due to storms, spring tides, and seasonal or annual differences in water flows, the

1.
Cromwell Weir marks the tidal limit of the River Trent, a major river in England

Teddington Lock
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Teddington Lock is a complex of three locks and a weir on the River Thames in England at Ham in south west London. The lock is on the side of the river. The river downstream of the lock, known as the Tideway, is tidal, though Teddington marks the tidal limit, in periods of very high fluvial flow the tidal influence can be seen as far upstream as Ea

4.
Scullers, skiffs and Thames Raters at Raven's Ait on one of the most active stretches of the river

Normal Tidal Limit
–
Head of tide or tidal limit is the farthest point upstream where a river is affected by tidal fluctuations, or where the fluctuations are less than a certain amount. This applies to rivers which flow into tidal bodies such as oceans, bays, though this point may vary due to storms, spring tides, and seasonal or annual differences in water flows, the

1.
Cromwell Weir marks the tidal limit of the River Trent, a major river in England

East Molesey
–
Molesey /ˈmoʊl. ziː/ is a suburban district comprising two large villages, East Molesey and West Molesey, just outside the edge of Greater London. Molesey lies between 11.7 and 13.5 miles from Charing Cross and forms part of the contiguous suburbs within the Greater London Urban Area. It has the London dialling code, and was from 1839 until 2000 un

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The one-way retail/dining and bar-lined street of East Molesey (Bridge Road) near Hampton Court Palace. This road is on the old alignment of Hampton Court Bridge before it was rebuilt by Surrey and Middlesex county councils, employing Edwin Lutyens.

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Hampton Court Bridge and East Molesey Riverbank

North Sea flood of 2007
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Cyclone Tilo was preceded by the extratropical remains of ex-Hurricane Noel on 7 November, which paved the way for the stronger upstream storm Tilo. The jet stream was diverted to the north by a ridge of high pressure to the west of Ireland in the Atlantic Ocean forcing the jet stream over the north of Greenland. In combination with a tide, the tid

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Flooding in Bremerhaven

2.
Countries affected by 2007 North Sea Flood

3.
Northern dike Bremerhaven

4.
Weser dike Bremerhaven

Marchioness disaster
–
The Marchioness disaster was a fatal collision between two vessels on the Thames in London on 20 August 1989, which resulted in the drowning of 51 people. The pleasure boat Marchioness sank after being pushed under by the dredger Bowbelle, a formal inquiry blamed poor lookouts on both vessels, and inadequate instruction of both crews. Four new life

Dredger
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Dredging is an excavation activity usually carried out underwater, in shallow seas or freshwater areas with the purpose of gathering up bottom sediments and disposing of them at a different location. This technique is used to keep waterways navigable. It is also used as a way to replenish sand on some public beaches, fishing dredges are used as a t

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The Geopotes 14 lifting its boom on a canal in The Netherlands. (gēopotēs is Greek for "that which drinks earth")

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A grab dredge

3.
Clamshell dredging in process in Port Canaveral, Florida

4.
Steam dredger Bertha, built 1844, on a demonstration run in 1982

Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant
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The Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant was a parade on 3 June 2012 of 670 boats on the Tideway of the River Thames in London as part of the celebrations of the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II. The Queen, Prince Philip and other members of the Royal Family were aboard vessels that took part in the parade, the parade was organised by the Thames Diamond J

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Hundreds of vessels pass Tower Bridge

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Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant

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Lady of Avenel (Netherlands)

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Gondolas in the parade

Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II
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The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II was a multinational celebration throughout 2012, that marked the 60th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952. Queen Elizabeth is queen regnant of 16 sovereign states, known as Commonwealth realms, the only other time in British history that a monarch celebrated a Diamond Jubil

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Queen Elizabeth II in her coronation regalia, 2 June 1953 This file is a candidate for speedy deletion. It may be deleted after Monday, 16 November 2015.

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Queen Elizabeth II arriving at St Paul's Cathedral for the service of thanksgiving on 5 June 2012

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The Parliament of Barbados, where the Earl of Wessex read to a joint sitting of the legislature a message from Elizabeth II, Queen of Barbados, on 23 February 2012, to mark the Queen's diamond jubilee

Thames Water
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Thames Water is the UKs largest water and wastewater services company, and supplies 2.6 billion litres of drinking water per day, and treats 4.4 billion litres of wastewater per day. Thames Waters 15 million customers comprise 27% of the UK population, other large shareholders in recent years include, BT Pension Scheme, the Abu Dhabi Investment Aut

Sea level rise
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Sea level rise refers to an increase in the volume of water in the world’s oceans, resulting in an increase in global mean sea level. Sea level rise is attributed to global climate change by thermal expansion of the water in the oceans and by melting of Ice sheets. Melting of floating ice shelves or icebergs at sea raises sea levels only slightly,

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Map of the Earth with a six-meter sea level rise represented in red.

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Trends in global average absolute sea level, 1880–2013.

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Close-up of Ross Ice Shelf, the largest ice shelf of Antarctica, about the size of France and up to several hundred metres thick.

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Greenland 2007 melt anomaly, measured as the difference between the number of days on which melting occurred in 2007 compared to the average annual melting days from 1988–2006

Sheerness
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Sheerness /ʃɪərˈnɛs/ is a town located beside the mouth of the River Medway on the north-west corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 12,000 it is the largest town on the island, Sheerness began as a fort built in the 16th century to protect the River Medway from naval invasion. In 1665, plans were first laid by t

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Sheerness clock tower

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Sheerness Dockyard: Naval Terrace and Church.

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Sheerness beach with the chimney of the Grain Power Station in the distance

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Terraced houses near the seafront

Kent
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Kent /ˈkɛnt/ is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south west, the county also shares borders with Essex via the Dartford Crossing and the French department of Pas-de-Calais through the Channel Tunnel. France can be clearly in fine weath

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Kent shown within England

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Title page of William Lambarde 's Perambulation of Kent (completed in 1570, and published in 1576), a historical description of Kent and the first published county history

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The White Cliffs of Dover

Southend-on-Sea
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It is bordered to the north by Rochford and to the west by Castle Point. It is home to the longest leisure pier in the world, London Southend Airport is located 1.5 NM north of the town centre. Originally the south end of the village of Prittlewell, Southend was home to a few poor fisherman huts, due to the bad transportation links between Southend

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Aerial view of Southend-on-Sea

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Southend-on-Sea Borough Council (Civic arms of Southend-on-Sea)

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Southend – Civic Centre Autumn 2007

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Seals off Southend

Essex
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Essex /ˈɛsᵻks/ is a county in England immediately north-east of London. It borders the counties of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, the county town is Chelmsford, which is the only city in the county. Essex occupies the part of the old Kingdom of Essex, bef

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The village of Finchingfield in north Essex

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Skyline of Southend-on-Sea

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London Stansted Airport, in the north west of the county

East Tilbury
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East Tilbury is a village in the unitary authority of Thurrock borough, Essex, England and one of the traditional parishes in Thurrock. In Saxon times, the location on which the now stands was surrounded by tidal marshland. This is the location for the minster church established by St Cedd at Tilaburg which is mentioned in Bedes History of the Engl

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The Bata Factory by John Winfield

Cliffe, Kent
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Cliffe is a village on the Hoo Peninsula in Kent, England, reached from the Medway Towns by a three-mile journey along the B2000 road. Situated upon a low chalk escarpment overlooking the Thames marshes, Cliffe offers views of Southend-on-Sea and it forms part of the parish of Cliffe and Cliffe Woods in the borough of Medway. The population of the

Tidal power
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Tidal power or tidal energy is a form of hydropower that converts the energy obtained from tides into useful forms of power, mainly electricity. Although not yet used, tidal power has potential for future electricity generation. Tides are more predictable than wind energy and solar power, historically, tide mills have been used both in Europe and o

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The world's first commercial-scale and grid-connected tidal stream generator – SeaGen – in Strangford Lough. The strong wake shows the power in the tidal current.

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A recent aerial photograph of the Lido inlet and the worksites where Mose is being constructed

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Floods in Piazza San Marco. This ever more frequent event causes considerable inconvenience and has driven the Authorities to seek solutions such as Mose

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Satellite image of the Venice lagoon and location of the three inlets of Lido, Malamocco and Chioggia where Mose is being constructed

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Gate movement. Under normal tidal conditions, the gates are completely invisible, full of water and rest on the seabed. When a high tide is forecast, they are emptied of water by introducing compressed air and rise up until they emerge, creating a barrier which temporarily isolates the sea from the lagoon

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An engraving by Claes Visscher showing Old London Bridge in 1616, with what is now Southwark Cathedral in the foreground. The spiked heads of executed criminals can be seen above the Southwark gatehouse.

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Detail of Old London Bridge on the 1632 oil painting "View of London Bridge" by Claude de Jongh

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This pedestrian alcove, now in Victoria Park, Tower Hamlets, is one of the surviving fragments of the old London Bridge that was demolished in 1831.